GREENCASTLE, Ind.-- Trine's Kara Eck was named Field Athlete of the Meet as the Trine women's track and field team placed sixth in the Indiana Division III Championships Saturday at DePauw University.
Eck (Auburn, Ind. / DeKalb) set two school records to win two events in dominant fashion to lead the Thunder. The sophomore won the shot put with a throw of 46 feet, 8.25 inches to top the rest of the field by more than six feet. She set a new program-best mark in the event by three feet. At the time of writing, Eck's throw ranked as the best in the nation in Division III this year.
Eck also won the hammer throw, topping her old school-record by six inches with a throw of 169 feet, 7 inches. Eck's hammer throw performance is ranked sixth in the nation.
Jenn Steyer (Fenton, Mich. / Lake Fenton) turned in an outstanding performance of her own in the hammer throw. Steyer's toss of 158 feet, 7 inches was second only to Eck. Steyer bested the third-place finisher by more than 10 feet as the Thunder duo dominated the event. Codee Colby (Michigan Center, Mich. / Michigan Center) added a seventh-place finish to contribute points in the hammer.
Kelsey Ortiz (Swanton, Ohio / Anthony Wayne) and Courtney Fortsythe (West Mansfield, Ohio / Benjamin Logan) earned the top two distance finishes on the day for Trine. Ortiz finished second in the 10K in 41:09.37, while Forsythe placed third in the 3K steeplechase with a time of 12:51.21.
Lydia Suchecki (Spring Lake, Mich. / Spring Lake) topped the rest of the field performances by placing third in the high jump. Suchecki cleared a height of 4 feet, 11 inches.
A pair of personal-bests led to fourth-place finishes for Jensyn Garrow (Archbold, Ohio / Archbold). The freshman ran a time of 27.24 seconds in the 200-meter dash and followed that up with a 1:01.17 second time in the 400-meter dash.
Kyla Binfet (West Yellowstone, Mont. / West Yellowstone) added to the list of personal-bests for Thunder performers on the day. Binfet's 5K time of 19:28.28 was her best on the track including both indoor and outdoor performances. Samantha Stensland (Fishers, Ind. / Hamilton Southeastern) also ran a strong time of 19:37 to place fifth.
Hannah Blystone (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) and Gigi Jarratt (Valparaiso, Ind. / Valparaiso) each ran personal-bests in the 1500-meter to place fifth and sixth respectively. Blystone added a personal-record time in the 800-meter run to place seventh.
Thunder performers totaled 82.50 points in the event.
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The Trine women's track and field team returns to action April 22-23 in Grand Valley State University's Al Owens Classic.