Established 1826 — Oldest College Newspaper West of the Alleghenies

’Hawks finish on top at Hilltopper Invitational

By Ben Blanchard, Staff Writer

The Miami University men and women's track and field teams competed in the Hilltopper Invitational this weekend in Bowling Green, Ky., earning victories in three events and top-five finishes across the board. The meet, hosted by Western Kentucky University, featured 18 schools from around the country.

Senior Laura Bess picked up Miami's first victory of the meet in the 1500-meter run, finishing in 4:31.32, five seconds ahead of the next finisher. The time automatically qualifies her for the Mid-American Conference Championships and places her fifth in the current MAC standings.

"I felt really good during the race. I just tried to stick with the leaders through 800 meters, and then after that I took over," Bess said. "I was surprised with how strong I felt toward the end of the race, so I'm really glad to have my training start to pay off."

Bess wasn't done after the 1500, earning a second place finish in the 800-meter run as well. Her time of 2:13.14 ranks her sixth in the MAC. Freshman Alexis Szivan took fifth in a time of 2:14.03.

"I didn't feel as strong as I did during the 1500, but I was able to use my endurance to take me from dead last after the first lap to second overall by the end of the race," Bess said.

In steeplechase action, sophomore Alesha Vovk set a meet-record in a personal best of 10:52.68. This automatically qualifies her for the MAC Championships, places her third in the current MAC rankings and is the eighth fastest time in Miami history. On the men's side, sophomore Jordan Rice took third in 9:40.97, which is the second fastest MAC time this season.

Senior Jess Baker set a new outdoor best in the high jump with a winning leap of 5-7. This mark is likely good enough to qualify Baker for NCAA Regionals, but qualifiers are not officially announced until the end of the regular season.

"I've really been trying to get a regional mark, so I think being nervous about that definitely helped," Baker said. "I was really focused coming into the weekend, and I'm really happy with how it turned out."

Senior Peter Stefanski jumped 6-8.75 for the RedHawk men, finishing second overall.

In women's shot put, Miami put two athletes on the podium. Junior Arionna Darling continued her string of strong performances with a second place throw of 51-5, and junior Ashley Frahm's toss of 48-8 was good enough for third.

Senior Kathie Wollney improved her MAC-leading 400-meter hurdles time by .14, finishing third overall in 1:01.94. Sophomore Morgan Rice was close behind, taking fifth in 1:02.97.

"I think everyone's in really good spirits after this weekend," Baker said. "Most people are starting to reach their goals, and it's great to get the outdoor season going on a high note."

The Red and White are back in action this weekend at the Ball State Challenge in Muncie, Ind.