LIAM GALLIGAN
SPORTS WRITER
The Lady Barons track team opened its season at the Mid-Major Invitational at Youngstown State University this past weekend and reached new heights of expertise.
Competing against fields of Division I and Division II schools, the Lady Barons didn’t shy away from the competition, and came away with new personal bests across their respective events.
The Lady Barons sprint and field teams competed well in their first competitions of the season. First, in the women’s triple jump, sophomore Janelle Lunde was the only Lady Baron competitor in the field. She leapt 9.29 meters. This jump allowed her to finish in 27th place out of 28 jumpers in the field.
In the women’s 400 meter dash, the Lady Barons fielded five runners out of the 50 in the entire field. Freshman Morgan Litterer was the top Lady Baron finisher in 43rd place, with a time of 1:06.50 coming from heat three. She was followed closely by freshman Gina Mannino (46th, 1:12.46), freshman Mary Grayson (47th, 1:13.62), freshman Sofia Cantu (48th, 1:13.74) and freshman Beth Flanagan (49th, 1:14.35).
Cantu, Grayson and Mannino all competed in the first heat of the women’s 400, while Flanagan competed in heat three with Litterer.
In the women’s 200 meter dash, Flanagan and Grayson returned and ran new personal bests. Flanagan finished 67th with a time of 33.27, and Grayson finished in 68th with a time of 34.27.
In the women’s 4×400 meter relay, the Lady Barons fielded a team that ran a time of 4:47.28 and finished in 16th place out of 17 relay teams. The relay was composed of Litterer, sophomore Maddie Birong, Lunde and Flanagan.
In the distance events, the Lady Barons were led by experienced senior Bernadette Williams and talented freshman Catherine Long. In the women’s 1 mile run, Williams and Long ran in heat one. In her first track race since high school, Williams challenged the front runners and came away with a season’s best of 5:42.35, good enough for 26th place out of a total of 43 runners. Long was not too far behind her, as she placed 36th in a time of 6:05.71.
In the women’s 800 meter run, Long and Williams returned, and they were joined by teammate Mary Grayson. Out of 50 runners, Williams finished in 37th place with a time of 2:35.82. Long and Grayson were right behind her as Long ran a time of 2:45.8 for 47th place, and Grayson ran a time of 3:01.69 for 50th place.
In the women’s 3000 meter run, senior Victoria Snell ran her first ever track race and finished in 40th place out of 42 runners in a new personal best of 14:10.