BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C.— Hosting its first of two outdoor meets this spring, the Montreat women's track & field program welcomed teams from across the region on Friday and Saturday to Black Mountain, N.C. The Cavaliers joined the field of 30+ teams in competition, tallying numerous top-five finishes and three school records.
 
Makayla Anderson, who owns the Montreat women's indoor record in the shot put and weight throw, added to her stellar freshman campaign with two school records in the hammer throw and discus. The Kannapolis, N.C. native placed 14^th in Friday's hammer throw, registering a toss of 35.76m, which surpassed the program record by 2.55m.
 
Anderson then delivered an even more impressive showing in Saturday's discus throw, breaking the 10-year-old Montreat record by 6.2m with her 34.62m toss. The newcomer earned a ninth-place finish with that stellar hurl in her home debut.
 
Similarly to Anderson, Anna Tastinger added to her pair of indoor records (high jump, pentathlon) with a school-best performance in the women's heptathlon. Tastinger finished the two-day event in eighth place with 3,010 points, marking a strong heptathlon debut for the Cavaliers.
 
Montreat racked up four top-five finishes on Friday, with Dylan Garcia leading the way among Cavaliers in the 1,500m. The freshman from Franklin, N.C. had the second-fastest time (4:46.39) on Friday afternoon, finishing only behind an NCAA Division I athlete from College of Charleston.
 
Two Cavaliers ran their way into the top five of Friday's 3,000m steeplechase, with Catherine Slack placing third (12:26.93) and Raquel Smith finishing fifth (13:04.67). Lillie Siniard joined the list of Cavaliers who earned top-five results by crossing the women's 10,000m end line in fifth thanks to a 40:38.06 performance.
 
Jessica Gakeri was among the most impressive Montreat performers on Saturday, notching another top-five outing under her belt. The freshman from Winston-Salem, N.C. saved her best for last, bounding 10.98m on her final attempt to finish fourth overall behind only NCAA Division I and Division II participants.
 
For a complete list of results from the Montreat College Invitational, click here.
 
The Montreat women's track & field team now travels to Central, S.C. next Friday and Saturday for the Gotta Run Invite, hosted by Southern Wesleyan University.