ANGOLA, Ind. -- The Trine women's track and field team will be looking to move up the conference ranks at MIAA Field Day this Thursday and Friday at Calvin College.
The Thunder project for a strong performance in throwing events, paced by the top three efforts in the conference to date in the hammer throw. Leading the way is MIAA record-holder and reigning All-American Kara Eck (Auburn, Ind. / DeKalb). The junior is ranked second in the nation in the hammer throw. Jenn Steyer (Fenton, Mich. / Lake Fenton) is ranked number two in the conference and is also a contender for a potential trip to the national meet. Steyer is ranked 22nd in the event in the nation. Andrea Hagar (Goshen, Ind. / Fairfield) gives Trine the top three performers in the MIAA entering this week's championship.
Eck is also the MIAA meet record-holder and reigning conference champion in the shot put. This season, Eck ranks 17th in the nation in the event. Hagar also gives the Thunder a chance to earn points in the event, as she is ranked fifth in the conference.
In addition to ranking in the top five in the MIAA in the hammer throw and shot put, Hagar is ranked third in the conference in the discus. The freshman set a new personal-best in her most recent performance in the discus at the Indiana Little States Championship. She also set a personal-best in her last hammer throw effort. Hagar is ranked sixth in the league in the javelen throw as well.
On the track, the Thunder boast the best 4-x-400-meter relay time in the MIAA entering the championship meet. Kaylyn Forrest (Cassopolis, Mich. / Ross-Beatty), Jenna Gales (Mendon, Mich. / Mendon), Ashlyn Maskow (Howe, Ind. / Lakeland) and Jensyn Garrow (Archbold, Ohio / Archbold) combined on the season-best time of 4:05.94. The time is just over a second off the school-record pace.
Each sprinter projects to contend for points elsewhere. Gales ranks third in the MIAA in the 400-meter dash, while Forrest ranks fifth in the 100-meter and sixth in the 200-meter dash. Garrow has notched the fifth-best time in both the 400-meter dash and 800-meter run. Maskow will compete in hurdle events. Rebecca Flora (Greenfield, Ind. / Greenfield Central) and Hope Scholma (Montpelier, Ohio / Montpelier) could also factor into the race for points in sprinting events.
Trine's distance efforts are paced by Kyla Binfet (West Yellowstone, Mont. / West Yellowstone) and Kelsey Ortiz (Swanton, Ohio / Anthony Wayne). Binfet set a new school record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase earlier this season. Ortiz will be running in her final conference meet and has seen success in both the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races this year. Hannah Blystone (Carmel, Ind. / Carmel) could also factor into mid-distance scoring.
Trine finished sixth in last year's MIAA Field Day meet. The Thunder placed third in the conference's championship meet during the indoor season.
MIAA Field Day is being held Thursday, May 4-5 at Calvin College's Zuidema Field Track. Events begin Thursday at 1 p.m. Friday's events are slated to begin at 10 a.m. For a complete schedule of events, CLICK HERE.
CLICK HERE to visit the Championship Central page.
