Winston-Salem, NC – In her collegiate debut, Rute Simoes recorded an automatic qualifier, leading Patriot performances against cross-divisional opponents at the Camel City Invitational.
 
Simoes, first-year athlete out of Portugal, paced toward a 10:26.88 finishing time in the 3,000 meters on day one of the invite. She surpassed the qualifying benchmark by just over a second, ranking her 20th in the country for the event.
 
Following behind, Lauren McHan clocked 11:07.47, Katelynn Soltero with an 11:11.17 in her first appearance in the 15-lap event, and Tara Todd at 11:20.75.
 
Simoes opened the day in the 5,000 meters, finishing with a time of 18:51.30 in her first attempt. Across competition from around the NCAA and NAIA, she placed 19th overall for the event in a field of 31 women at the elite meet.
 
Lisa Voyles charted a top-10 performance in her first 1,000 meters race of young career. The rookie out of Danville, KY paced 3:06.12 on the flat track, two seconds shy of a qualifying time. On her heels, Kinsey Forgey noted a nine-second improvement since the 2019 MSC Championships to finish at 3:19.04.
 
Voyles, Raegan Granville, McHan and Simoes joined forces for the 4,000 meter distance medley relay, placing fifth with a time of 13:02.80.
 
Cora Stevens charted a new career best in the 600 meters, clocking 1:43.84 around three laps. The new best outpaces her previous best set at Indiana Tech's Strive for Greatness Invite back in December.
 
In her fourth-straight top-10 finish, Emily Allen led field event performances by clearing 1.55 meters – or five feet, one inch – to take fourth in a field of 19.
 
Granville took 12th in pole vault, needing two attempts to clear 3.05 meters – 10 feet.
 
Summer Travis came close to matching her season-best shot put throw, tossing 11.92 meters – 39 feet, 1.25 inches – at the Camel City Invite for 14th place overall.
 
Back on the track, Sarah Hunter clocked her best time since the start of the new year, marking 9.25 seconds down the straight for 18th in the prelims. Hailey Martin followed with a time of 10.03 seconds.
 
Dymanique Thompson hit 26.13 in the 200-meter dash, .03 off her performance at the elite meet last year. Following behind was Kathryn Hunter, who marked 27.02 seconds around the turns.
 
Thompson later led the Patriots in the 400 meters, finishing with the clock showing 1:00.36. Meanwhile, Martin showed up with a 1:05.00 finish, not far off a best for her.
 
In the elite 60 meters, Thompson rounded out her weekend with a 30th-place, 8.05-second sprint down the straight. In the qualifying heats, Granville placed third at 8.12 seconds. Meanwhile, the Hunter sisters were led by Kathryn at 8.20 seconds then Sarah at 8.26.
 
The Patriots gear up ahead of the MSC Indoor Track & Field Championships in two weeks' time. The meet will be held at Defiance College in Ohio on February 21 and 22.
 
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