The beginning of February saw the Amherst women’s track and field team extend what has been a strong winter showing. The team competed in non-scoring competition this weekend at the Wesleyan University Invitational. The purple and white had a strong showing with multiple first place finishes.
Extending her win streak to four, senior Kiana Herold won first place in the high jump with a leap of 1.62 meters. First-year Kaitlyn Siegel placed third in the event with a 1.57-meter jump. Abbey Asare-Bediako ’18 also secured the top spot for Amherst in the triple jump with a leap of 11.36 meters.

In her first season with Amherst women’s track and field, sophomore Rubii Tamen sprinted to a seventh place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.58 seconds, while Herold claimed ninth place in a time of 28.20 seconds.

Competing in the 400-meter dash, Julia Asin ’19 placed seventh with a time of 1:02.15 minutes. Junior Danielle Griffin secured second place in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:44.93.

Amherst continued to impress in the mid-distance events. Sylvia Frank ’20 finished fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:28.15.

The purple and white fared particularly well in the 1,000-meter run. Five Amherst runners placed in the top ten, with four finishing in the top five. Leonie Rauls ’18 won the event with a time of 3:07.26, while Kristin Ratliff ’20, Cat Lowdon ’17, Lela Walter ’19 and Adele Loomis ’18 finished third, fourth, fifth and tenth, respectively.

Amherst’s mid-distance prowess continued in the one-mile run, with the team capturing the first, third and fifth place spots. Senior Savanna Gornisiewicz won the one-mile run in a time of 5:16.00, while Katherine Treanor ’20 and Sophie Currin ’17 secured third and fifth places with times of 5:17.31 and 5:36.32, respectively.

First-year Lizzie Kobelski finished sixth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.85 seconds.

Amherst rounded out their strong showing at the meet with Ratliff, Frank, Rauls and Walter running into first place in the 4x800 relay with a time of 9:53.86.

The women will return to competition in the Valentine Invitational on Friday, Feb. 10 at Boston University. This will be the purple and white’s final meet before regional playoff action begins at the NCAA Division III New England meet in two weeks.