BIRMINGHAM, AL – UC's women delivered a strong day across three meets, highlighted by multiple national standards in the race walk, a national qualifying relay performance, and solid depth across the sprints and field events.
The top performances of the day came at the Camel City Invite in the 3000-meter race walk, where UC recorded three national qualifying marks.
Heather Durrant led the way by winning the event in 15:07.01 to earn the NAIA A standard, walking the third-fastest time in the nation this year.
Lilian Bittencourt followed closely with a time of 16:16.44 to secure the B standard and the fifth fastest NAIA time, while
Hannah Durrant added another B cut after crossing the line in 16:34.66 for a top-10 time in the NAIA. The trio combined for one of the strongest race walk showings of the season for the Patriots.
UC added another national qualifying performance at the Indiana Tech Orange & Black Meet, where the 4x800-meter relay of
Elisa Helferich,
Alex Cundiff,
Caroline Cronen, and
Megan Kitchens ran a flat 9:32.2, converted to a 9:25.76 to earn the NAIA B standard against a competitive field. This ranks 11
th in the NAIA this season.
At the UAB Green and Gold Invite, the Patriots competed across the sprints, hurdles, and field events. In the 60 meters,
Lillian Guzman led UC with a time of 7.79, followed by
Ritorion Vigne at 7.82,
MaQuoia Raglin at 7.83, and
Allie Bryson at 7.97. The hurdles group was represented by
Aliah Laster, who ran 10.06 in the 60-meter hurdles.
UC added depth in the 200 meters as Bryson crossed the line in 27.25. The Patriots also produced two strong performances in the long jump, where
Abia Kante recorded a mark of 5.53 meters to place fifth overall, while
Jaci Woods followed with a jump of 5.00 meters.
In the pole vault, Laster cleared 2.82 meters to represent UC, and Woods added another effort in the triple jump with a mark of 10.31 meters.
The Patriots will now turn their attention to their second day at UAB, building on a day that featured an NAIA A standard, three B standards, and competitive depth across three meets.
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