The Miami University women's track and field team placed third out of 12 teams Feb. 25 and 26 at the Indoor Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championships held at Bowling Green State University.
After the first day of action, the 'Hawks earned 24 points, placing them in a tie for fifth with Western Michigan University. However, the Red and White stepped up their performance Saturday, earning 57 points for a total of 81, placing them in third. The Red and White's third-place position tied a school record for best indoor finish in school history.
"We took third overall, and we came up a lot over the boards," junior Rachel Patterson said. "It was nice to see peoples' names come up and have a lot of us set school records."
Patterson was a significant factor in Miami's impressive finish. She won the 5,000-meter run Friday, setting an All-MAC record time of 16:32.01. Saturday, Patterson won the 3,000-meter contest in a season-best 9:39.44. She was named the meet's Most Outstanding Track Performer and First Team All-MAC.
The freshmen on the team played a key role in Miami's third place finish. Erica Mudd placed fourth in the pentathlon with 3,587 points, including third place finishes in the high and long jumps. Saturday, Mudd won the high jump title with a personal best clearance. Like Patterson, Mudd was named First Team All-MAC.
Freshman Kori Tatman placed sixth in the pole vault with a personal best, and classmate Tori Paterra placed eighth in the shot put with a personal best toss. Sophomore Alexandra Roberts placed second in the shot put, breaking her own record from last year and setting a school record heave of 15.26 m/50-00.75.
Roberts was pleased with her performance over the weekend and is optimistic about the team's remaining indoor season and the outdoor season, which begins March 25.
"We came into the meet with low expectations, but a lot of people had a really excellent meet," Roberts said. "Our team can only get better over the next eight weeks."
Five more 'Hawks qualified for event finals Saturday. Junior Diona Graves qualified for the 60-meter dash finals and 200-meter dash finals, coming in sixth in both preliminaries. Sophomore Katie Scannell placed third in the 400-meter dash, and junior Rachael Clay placed fifth. Sophomore Layne Baggett placed first in the 60-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 8.54, and took second in the finals.
The RedHawks return to action March 4 and 5 when they compete in the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Ind.
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