GRANVILLE, Ohio – Denison women's track & field returned to competition for the first time in 2021 on Saturday afternoon where they suffered a 71-69 loss to Division I Robert Morris University at the Mitchell Fieldhouse in Granville.
In the second-to-last race of the day, the Big Red closed an eight-point gap with the Colonials in the 3,000-meter run after DU took first through fifth place, headlined by an event win for freshman
Kate Immesberger at 12:08.12, and entered the final race of the meet tied at 66 points each. In the 4X400-meter relay, the combination of
Erin Anderson,
Julie Kenyon,
Tessa Gerhardt, and
Sarah Radziewicz clocked in at 4:26.44 to place second overall, but they fell less than four seconds short of Robert Morris in the event as Denison suffered their first loss of the 2021 indoor season.
The Big Red totaled six event victories on the day, including four individual titles in the running events. Radziewicz led the way for DU in the distance events where she won the 800-meter run in 2:32.24 and then the one-mile run with a final time of 5:32.24. In the one-mile, Radziewicz was followed by junior
Emily Willson in second place at 5:37.92,
Aileen Schretzmayer in third with a time of 5:41.63,
Lily Anderson in fourth (5:50.45), and
Michaela Hassler in fifth (5:56.40). In the 800-meter run, Schretzmayer took second at 2:34.55, Willson followed in fourth at 2:41.06 and
Lily Anderson rounded out the top-five in fifth place after checking in at 2:42.65. In the 3,000-meter run,
Meagan Balch followed Immesberger in second at 12:12.39.
Audrey Corrigan took third at 12:22.06,
Robert Fisher placed fourth (12:29.46), and
Anna Lindower finished in fifth (12:36.01).
Sophomore
Erin Anderson also earned a win for the Big Red in the 400-meter dash where she paced the field with a new personal record of 1:01.22, which comes in as the sixth-faster PR in program history. She also took second in the 200-meter dash with a final time of 28.31 while first-year
Rainer Yaeger followed in third at 29.71. Yaeger earned their own success in the field events where they won the triple jump with a maximum leap of 32'7.75" (9.95 meters) and placed third in the long jump at 15'6.75" (4.74 meters). Both distances check in as the eighth-best marks in school history.
Fellow first-year
Monica Bradford also enjoyed early success in her first collegiate competition, placing second overall in the 60-meter dash (8.64) and the 60-meter hurdles (9.46). In the 60-meter prelims, Bradford logged the eighth-fastest personal record in school history, before matching her time in the finals to finish in second place. In the 60-meter hurdles prelims, Bradford clocked in with the school's fifth-best PR at 9.99, but then took it to another level in the finals where she bumped her PR up to 9.46, which is the second fastest personal record in program history. Junior
Ashley Schmoll also earned a PR in the event, placing fifth overall at 10.38.
In the field events, senior
Danni Gutelius earned another win for the Big Red in the high jump where she placed first overall on a leap of 4'11" (1.50 meters). Sophomore
Danielle Wydick earned a third-place finish in the pole vault on a maximum effort of 8'6" (2.59 meters). The Big Red also tallied a pair of top-five finishers in the weight throw and shot put events, with
Tam Dzolic taking fourth overall in the weight throw at 43'3.75" (13.20 meters) and
Leah Ackerman placing fifth on a toss of 43'3" (13.18 meters). Ackerman paced DU's efforts in the shot put with a final distance of 36'1.25" (11 meters) in fourth place while Schmoll followed in fifth at 34'7" (10.54 meters).
Denison will return to the track next Saturday, Feb. 27 when they host Ohio Wesleyan University at a time to be determined. The meet is closed to spectators. Tune into the live video stream at
www.denisonbigred.com/watch.
