Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU track & field team opened the 2022 Horizon League Indoor Championships Saturday at the Watson and Tressel Training Site (WATTS) on the campus of Youngstown State University. The Colonials sit fourth with 24 points.
TEAM LEADERS
Youngstown State leads after the first day of competition, having compiled 68 points. Milwaukee (51) sits second, followed by Oakland (34) and the Colonials. Rounding out the field is Purdue Fort Wayne (23), Wright State (14), Illinois-Chicago (11), Detroit Mercy (6) and IUPUI (3).
NEW CHAMPION, SAME PROGRAM, NEW RECORD
The Horizon League crowned a new champion in the weight throw Saturday, with an RMU student-athlete taking home the title. This time, however, it was fifth-year
Yessie Valencia who took home the individual championship. Valencia unleashed a hurl of 18.86 meters (61'10.50") on her third attempt of the event, which stood as the top mark. In addition to earning gold, the distance establishes a new school record, eclipsing the previous mark of 18.77 meters that was established exactly one year ago by
Keturah Hunter. Saturday, Hunter posted a toss of 17.17 meters (56'4") to finish second and claim silver.
TRACKING IT DOWN
Junior
Elicia Moore qualified for the finals in the 400-meter dash Saturday, finishing fourth in the preliminaries with a time of 57.18 seconds. The time sets a new personal standard for Moore. In the distance medley relay, the Colonials posted a time of 12:54.88 to score. The team was made up of sophomore
Rio Strosnider, junior
Lauren Chappell and freshmen
Frances Kabana and
Laura Croco.
PENTATHLON
Chappell scored five points Saturday for the Colonials by finishing fourth in the pentathlon, racking up 3,286 points for a new personal best. Chappell scored the most points in the 60-meter hurdles, posting a time of 9.21 seconds to score 867 points. She also added 663 points in the long jump thanks to a leap of 5.37 meters (17'7.50 ), 654 points in the high jump at 1.53 meters (5'0.25") and 581 points in the 800-meter with a time of 2:39.29. She finished third in the long jump individually and fourth in the high jump and 800-meter.
UP NEXT
RMU concludes the 2022 Horizon League Indoor Track & Field Championships Sunday, Feb. 27, at WATTS. Field events begin at 9:15 a.m. with the high jump, while track events begin at 1:00 p.m. with the mile.
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