BEREA, Ky. — The Montreat College women's track & field team delivered a strong split-squad performance over the weekend, competing across three meets. Action began on Friday at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C., before continuing on Saturday at the King University Invitational in Bristol, Tenn. and the Landon Bond Classic in Berea, Ky. Across the three competitions, the Cavaliers recorded 16 entries spanning nine events. The highly productive action included four personal bests, a new school record and an NAIA 'A' standard.
Friday night featured a standout performance from Heather Murphy in the women's 10k Invitational at the Raleigh Relays. Facing a deep field of NCAA Division I and professional competitors, Murphy delivered a record-breaking time of 33:38.48, finishing 27th out of 34 athletes. The effort set both a new school and personal best, improving her previous mark by nearly seven seconds. The Portarlington, Ireland native surpassed the NAIA 'A' standard by more than two minutes and posted the third-fastest time in NAIA history, while also holding the fourth-fastest mark. Her performance now stands as the quickest time in the NAIA this season.
Emma Barnes excelled in the heptathlon at the King University Invitational, claiming first place among five competitors with a total of 4,482 points. Barnes earned top-three finishes in every event and won four of the seven contests, demonstrating consistency throughout the competition.
Three Montreat athletes competed in the 800m on Saturday in Bristol, with Natalia Nieto pacing the Cavaliers behind a personal-best 2:25.51 to finish eighth in a 35-runner field. Jasmine Hernandez lowered her time by more than two seconds to 2:29.33 for 17th, while Anna Baugh finished 18th at 2:29.39.
At the Landon Bond Classic in Berea, the Cavs made a strong impression in the field events, taking part in three jumping and throwing competitions. Lydia Norman led the way with victories in the long jump at 5.09m against 14 athletes, as well as in the triple jump at 10.88m among seven competitors. Trinety Dajuste recorded personal bests in both events, placing second in the long jump at 4.90m and fourth in the triple jump at 10.19m.
Isis Rain Giron earned a first-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 29.56m and followed with a third-place mark out of 11 in the discus at 30.37m. Izzi Ackerman competed in both events as well, taking sixth in the javelin at 17.03m and seventh in the discus at 23.67m.
For full results from the Raleigh Relays, click here. For complete results from the King University Invitational, click here. To see full results from the Landon Bond Classic, click here.
Montreat will split its squad again next week, returning to competition on April 2-3 at the VertKlasse Meeting in High Point, N.C. and on April 3 at the Tornado Classic in Brevard, N.C.
