Ladies Tied For Seventh At SCAC Championships

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Behind strong performances in the distance events, Colorado College holds the lead after the first day of the 2024 SCAC Women's Track and Field Championship. CC, which has finished as runner-up the last two years, is seeking its first-ever team conference championship in the sport and holds a 15.5 points lead over eight-time defending champion Trinity University heading into tomorrow's final day of competition. Official Website | Results | Photo Gallery

DAY ONE STANDINGS

1. Colorado College - 115
2. Trinity - 99.5
3. Texas Lutheran - 83.5
4. Southwestern - 44
5. St. Thomas - 37
6. Schreiner - 2
T7. Centenary - 0
T7. Dallas - 0

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the opening women's race of the 2024 championships, Colorado College sophomore Alison Mueller-Hickler (watch post race interview), who had the 23rd fastest time in the event in Division III this season heading into this weekend, took top honors in the 10,000 meters, leading a quartet of CC runners that took first through fourth place and ensuring a medal stand sweep for the Tigers for the second consecutive year. Two-time defending champion junior Elliot Singer and fellow junior Britt Helgaas finished second and third, respectively with times of 40:00.34 and 40:05.91.
• Colorado College senior Kendall Accetta (watch post race interview) earned her second career victory in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at the SCAC championships, earning gold this year in a time of 10:55.33 - the second-fastest time in conference meet history. Accetta, who earned gold in the event in 2022, owned the eighth-fastest time in Division III in the event heading into this weekend. Senior Ellie Catron of Trinity, the defending and two-time champion of the event (2021 and 2023) finished as runner-up this year, crossing in a time of 11:27.67. CC senior Julia Solano, who was the runner-up in last year's race, rounded out the all-SCAC team, earning third place with a finishing time of 11:42.85.
• In field event action, junior Joy Areola of Trinity (watch post race interview) defended her title in the long jump with a leap of 5.46 meters (17' 11"). Sophomore Clara Lippert of Colorado College improved on her third place finish from a year ago and placed second with a jump of 5.24 meters (17' 2 1/4"). Texas Lutheran first-year Briley Rother was third with a leap of 5.12 meters (16' 9 1/2").
• First-year Deserae Charles of Texas Lutheran (watch post race interview) led a Bulldog 1-2-3 finish and earned her first career gold medal with a 12.27 meter toss (40' 3") in the shot put. the last two winners of the event, sophomore Emagen Styra, last year's winner, finished second with a toss of 11.90 meters (39' 1/2") and junior Juliassa Rodriguez, who won the event as a freshman in 2022, placed third with a distance of 11.60 meters (38' 3/4").
• Southwestern sophomore Leandra Motelot (watch post race interview) became the first Pirate in program history to take top honors in the pole vault, clearing a height of 3.32 meters (10' 10 3/4"). Finishing 2-3 in the event were a pair of Trinity teammates, first-year Victoria Baker and seophomore Kaelin Leishman. Both clearned 3.03 meters but Baker earned the nod for silver with fewer misses prior to clearing the slotted height.
• TLU's Juliassa Rodriguez (watch post race interview) earned her second medal of the meet - this time picking up gold in the hammer event. The junior took top honors with a winning toss of 44.35 meters (145' 6"), giving the Bulldog program their seventh win in the event in the last eight conference meets. Her teammate, sophomore Kenna Kubenka, placed second with a distance of 43.73 meters (143' 6") and Trinity first-year Rachel Bell was third with a toss of 42.44 meters (139' 3").
• In the first women's race of the afternoon session, the 4x100 record, which had stood for 12 years, was broken by the Texas Lutheran quartet of junior Taylor Norrell, sophomore Natalie Garcia, junior Leilani Lopez, and senior Trinity Murdock (watch post race interview). The Bulldog four-some outleaned Trinity University to the tape and finished with a SCAC championship record of 47.66. Trinity settled for second place with 47.70 finish in what was the closest 4x100 race on the women's side since Trinity defeated Rhodes college by .03 at the 1997 championships. St. Thomas, the two-time defending champions of the event, was third in 48.11.
• Colorado College sophomore Ella Fullerton (watch post race interview) defended her title in the 800 and blazed to a new SCAC record finish of 2:12.54, breaking the old mark of 2:14.51 which had been established in 2010 by DePauw University's Lauren Reich Loeffler, who is now an assistant coach at Trinity. Sophomore Breanna Steele of Southwestern placed second in 2:14.34 and first-year Gabriela Lues of Colorado College was third in 2:15.20.
• In the 400 meter hurdles, Southwestern junior Arden Neff (watch post race interview) earned her third consecutive title in the event, hitting the tape first in a time of 1:03.19. She is the fifth woman in league history to earn three straight championship meet wins in the 400 meter hurdles and the first since Trinity's Abigail Schneebeck won three consecutive titles from 2017 to 2019. Junior Sophia Delgado of St. Thomas was second with a time of 1:03.31 and senior Emma Fowkes of Colorado College was third in 1:04.06. 
• In the final women's event of Day One, sophomore Trinity Provost of St. Thomas improved on her runner-up finish from a year ago and took gold in the 200 meters with a winning time of 25.04, which is tied for the fourth-fastest in SCAC championship meet history. Trinity senior Hayley Huck took silver with a 25.44 finish and her teammate junior CC Gray earned bronze in a finishing time of 25.49. 

UP NEXT

• Competition resumes tomorrow with the men's 5000-meter final at 8:00 a.m., followed by the women's event at 8:30 a.m. A complete schedule of events can be found here.