The Denison women's track and field squad captured seven event titles and posted 13 top-3 performances on Saturday at Carnegie Mellon Mini Invitational at Gesling Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. As a team, the Big Red took third in the five-team field with 122 points.
Sophomore Aedin Brennan was part of three victories, including a school-record performance in the 400-meter hurdles. Brennan secured her first title of the day in the triple jump with a meet-record leap of 36'7.50". The sophomore broke the 25-year old school record in the 400 hurdles by almost a full second after winning the event with a time of 1:03.93. The previous school mark of 1:04.92 was set by Laura Hegyes in 1989. Brennan's third title of the day came as a member of the 4x100 relay team. Brennan along with Kiki Yewer, Anne Lee and Tiffany Davis posted a meet-record time of 50.04, which was 2.34 seconds faster than the second-place team from Carnegie Mellon.
Yewer and Davis also picked up individual victories in the 100 and 200-meter events, respectively. Yewer posted a personal-best time of 13.08 en route to her 100-meter win, while Davis' time of 24.97 won the event by almost one second. Both Yewer and Davis also set meet records with their performances on Saturday. The Big Red's other two victories were provided by junior Kristen Geary and sophomore Emily Lamm. Geary won the pole vault after clearing a meet-record height of 10'00". That personal-best performance moved her into fourth on the school's top performers list for the outdoor season. Lamm captured the 1500-meter crown after breaking the tape in 4:52.65.
DU also posted six third-place finishes at Saturday's event. Lee recorded a pair of third-place performances. The freshman jumper took home the bronze in both the long and triple jump events with leaps of 15'9.75" and 33'8", respectively. Lee's triple jump performance moved her into fourth on the program's top performers list, while her mark in the long jump put her in eighth place. In addition to her three titles, Brennan also took third in the javelin after recording a personal-best throw of 114'10", a one-foot improvement from her previous PR.
Yewer followed up her victory in the 100 dash with a third-place showing in the 200. The sophomore sprinter clocked in at 26.81 which moved her into ninth on the school's top performer's list. Also finishing third were distance runners Abbi Boss and Kate Benson. Boss posted a time of 19:02.89 in the 5000-meter run, while Benson logged a personal-best time of 12:32.84 in the 3000-meter steeplechase. In addition to being a PR, Benson's time also landed her in the 10th spot on the program's top performers list.
Marina Townsend recorded two top-9 performances, highlighted by a sixth-place finish in the high jump (4'4"). She also had a personal-best showing in the shot put with a heave of 31'10.75", landing her in ninth-place overall. Jillian Reagan and Kendra Epstein also finished in the top-7 in their respective events. Reagan was sixth in the 400 hurdles (1:18.64), while Epstein took seventh in the long jump with a leap of 13'8.75". The 4x400 relay team of Brennan, Olivia Ireland, Yewer and Davis closed out the day with a sixth-place performance. The foursome completed the race in 4:48.12.
SUNY-Fredonia won the event with 152 points, while Allegheny was second with 130 tallies. Denison, Carnegie Mellon (113) and Waynesburg (63) rounded out the rest of the five-team field.
The Big Red returns to action next Saturday at the Marv Frye Invitational hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University. Field events are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m., while running events will start at 3 p.m.
