MEMPHIS, TN – Amid blue skies and spring temperatures, the Rhodes Women's Track & Field Team opened their outdoor season in fine form. Competing at their home facility against teams from Division I, II, and III, the Lynx achieved many notable performances throughout the day.
Highlighting the day was junior
Molly Buck (Austin, TX), who, in her first 400m hurdle race of the season, not only placed fifth with a time of 1:03.44, but also hit the NCAA National Qualifying Standard of 1:04.20. Her time currently ranks her second in Division III and it also broke the former school record of 1:04.34 by nearly a second. Buck also placed ninth in the 100m hurdles, crossing the finish line in 15.49 seconds.
Also posting an excellent performance was senior
Melissa DeFabrizio (Richmond Hill, Ontario). In the first 10,000m race of her career, she ran an outstanding 40:35.95, the seventh fastest time of the day. In other distance events, the Lynx had a strong day in the 3,000m steeplechase, placing two athletes in the top eight. Junior
Kelsey Dudziak (Williamstown, MA) ran a lifetime best of 11:34.55 to place fifth out of twenty-six competitors. Fellow teammate, senior co-captain
Cybil Covic (Cordova, TN) followed close behind placing eighth in a time of 11:44.79.
In the relays, Rhodes had a particularly excellent start to the season. The 4x100m relay consisting of senior co-captain
Julia Goss (St. Louis, MO), freshman Sam Specht (St. Petersburg, FL), sophomore
Kyla Graham (St. Louis, MO) and freshman
Lindsay Svehla (Bellevue, NE) placed eighth with a great initial performance time of 49.72 seconds. The 4x800m team of freshman
Jessica Murrer (Bronxville, NY), sophomore
Caroline Webster (Ellsworth, ME), senior
Becky Atnip (Greenfield, TN), and freshman
Hillary Quirk (San Antonio, TX) finished in seventh place, crossing the line in 10:33.60. In the last event of the day, the 4x400m squad of freshman
Megan Lee (Castro Valley, CA), Specht, Goss and Buck ran their best time of the year by almost four seconds en route to a third place finish with an excellent time of 4:01.82.
The field events saw a standout debut performance by freshman
Alison Lang (Colts Neck, NJ) in the hammer throw and javelin. Her heave of 103'1” in the hammer places her within seven feet of the school record – a distance made all the more impressive by the fact it was the first hammer competition of her career. Her javelin throw was even more notable, as – in a very competitive field of twenty-six throwers – she placed ninth, with a personal best throw of 108'4”, beating several Division I competitors in the process. Junior
Jessie Ormand (Hammond, LA) and Specht highlighted the jumping events as they both placed among the top ten finishers in the triple jump. Ormand's mark of 33'8” (10.26m) and Specht's mark of 33'4.75” (10.18m) were good for ninth and tenth place respectively in what was a very high quality contest.
It was fantastic start to the outdoor season for the Lynx, and if the day's performances were any indication, the rest of the season looks to be a promising one. The Rhodes team returns to action on Saturday March 27th as they host their second meet of the season at Fargason Field with events getting under way at 9:00am.
