WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.— At the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Indoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday and Friday, the Montreat women's track & field team placed fourth out of the 12 competing schools. The Cavs notched two individual championships and registered seven all-conference showings en route to the fourth-place team result.
 
On day one, the Cavaliers collected 21 team points from four separate events. Jessica Gakeri led the way with a second-place showing in the triple jump, where she utilized an 11.30m leap to capture all-conference honors. Catherine Slack placed fifth in the 1,000m run with a time of 3:09.36 to pick up four points, while Lillie Siniard rounded out the individual scoring with an eighth-place finish in the 5k (19:42.07).
 
In the last event of the evening, the Cavs ended second in the Distance Medley Relay as the combination of Yessenia Castellanos, Kilia Hasty, Emily Standifer and Dylan Garcia crossed in 12:39.52 to claim second and give the team eight points. Montreat sat in fifth place as a team through the first day of competition.
 
On Friday, the Cavaliers improved their standing with a pair of individual conference titles. First, Garcia stormed back from an early deficit in the 800m event to capture first place and break her own school record in 2:20.78. Later in the day, Standifer tallied Montreat's other championship with a solid run in the 600m, also resulting in a school record. The freshman crossed the finish line in 1:42.45 to notch her individual title and add 10 points to the Cavaliers' team score.
 
Fourteen scorers highlighted the latter day of competition for the Cavs, who recorded 74 points on Friday alone.
 
Castellanos followed Garcia closely in the 800m to earn all-conference recognition with a second-place effort. The freshman ended in 2:21.57 to tally her honor, which is given to the top three finishers in each event. Slack wrapped up Montreat's all-conference awards on the track as she concluded second in the 3,000m, racing through the line in 11:09.48. Raquel Smith concluded eighth in the 3k (12:55.09), and Slack added more team points with a fifth-place performance in the 1k (3:09.36). Hasty chased Standifer in the 600m event, notching fifth with a time of 1:45.03.
 
In the field, newcomer Anna Tastinger notched all-conference in her pole vault events. Balancing the high jump competition at the same time, the Franklin, N.C. native cleared 2.62m in the pole vault to end third. In addition to her conference award, Tastinger earned team points in the high jump by finishing seventh (1.38m) and as part of the 4x400m relay team composed of Hasty, Nia Perryman and Standifer (fourth; 4:25.52).
 
Mahaley Cronk joined her teammates to earn team points in the 800m with a sixth-place effort (2:26.88), while also placing seventh in the mile run (5:32.49). Castellanos picked up team points in the mile as well by finishing fourth (5:25.24). The 4x800m team consisting of Larios, Jenna Mallory, Ashley Jones and Smith concluded fourth (11:05.91).
 
In the field, Gakeri propelled herself 5.13m in the long jump to tally five team points (fourth).
 
For the complete individual results from the conference championships, click here. For the full team results, click here.
 
Women's track & field now turns its attention to the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championships set to take place from Mar. 3 to Mar. 5 in Brookings, S.D.