Track Opens Up Season at Prin Relays

Elsah, Ill. – The track and field teams established baseline performances on Friday at the Principia College Relays.  Most of the Griffins were competing for the first time this season.

Kicking off the Griffins' events for the day was Kelly Mundwiller, throwing 8.66 meters in the shot put, a tenth of a meter shy of her mark from the previous week. In the women's 60-meter dash, Gabi Cruts ran a time of 8.53 seconds, improving her opening time from last week by two-tenths of a second. Becca Buehler opened up her season with a 60-meter time of 8.69 seconds. 

In the 3,000-meter run, Olivia Beggs ran 11:18, a 14-second personal best. The performance earned her Griffin Track Athlete-of-the-Week honors and is the second-fastest women's 3,000-meter performance in school history. Claire Becker (12:43) and Grace Poindexter (14:02) followed up Beggs in the 3,000 to post their first performances on the track season. 

In the women's 300-meter dash, Becca Buehler ran a time of 45.81 seconds, closing hard in the final meters. Also in the 300-meter, Taylor McGowen ran her first race as a Griffin by going out aggressively and competing hard through the line, finishing in a time of 51.79. 

In the men's 60-meter dash, Clayton Bond came away with a tenth of a second improvement from the previous week, running 7.74 seconds with a cleaner start out of the blocks. Later in the day, Bond ran 40.65 seconds in the 300-meter dash. Justin Horneker busted off the racing rust in the men's mile, running a time of 4:50.

Next weekend the Griffins head to Illinois Wesleyan University for the Keck Invitational.