LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Sophomore
Abrielle Richard and freshman
Lilyanna Blais raced to first-place finishes Friday to lead University of Southern Indiana Women's Track & Field at the Eastern Indoors.
Richard set a school-record in the 1,000 meters with her first-place time of two minutes, 55.33 seconds, while Blais was first in the mile with a time of 5:09.94. The previous record in the 1,000 meters was 2:56.19, set a year ago by
Audrey Comastri at the Bellarmine Open.
Both Blais and Richard pulled double-duty Friday as Blais also posted a fifth-place finish in the 800 meters while Richard helped the Screaming Eagles to a third-place showing in the 4x400-meter relay.
USI's women had 11 top eight finishes on the day, while the Screaming Eagles' men added six top eight showings.
In addition to Richard and Blais, freshmen
Mackenzi Thomas and
Charlee Gibson were seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 800 meters. Thomas also was third in the mile, while Gibson earned a seventh-place finish in the same event.
Sophomore
Maggie Smith was the third runner to cross the finish line in the 1,000 meters, while fellow classmates
Cordelia Hoover and
Lauryn Speicher posted respective finishes of fifth and eighth in the mile and 400 meters.
Speicher, Smith and sophomore
Emma Deweese also were part of USI's 4x400-meter relay team.
USI gained finishes of fourth, sixth and eighth in the men's 800 meters as well as fourth, fifth and eighth in the men's mile.
Sophomore
Alan Marshall was fourth in the 800 meters and eighth in the mile, while juniors
Eli Mojonnier and
Gavin Thompson landed placements of sixth and eighth, respectively, in the 800 meters.
Rounding out USI's top eight finishers were sophomores
Joe Schwartz and
Zach Wells, were respectively fourth and fifth in the mile.
The Screaming Eagles return to action next Friday and Saturday when they compete at the Music City Invitational. They will return to the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center in Louisville for the OVC Indoor Championships February 24-25.
