ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University women's track team finished in second place at the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Indoor Championship hosted by Trine at the Keith E. Busse/Steel Dynamics Athletic and Recreation Center.
The Thunder ended the championship with 130 team points to place second of seven teams, falling just a point-and-a-half behind team champion Hope (Mich.) College who had 131.5 points. Albion (Mich.) College rounded out the top three schools with 128.5 points.
Individually, Trine won four events that included a pair of event victories by senior Kara Eck (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) in the weight throw and shot put. Freshman Evonne Bultemeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) won the 800-meter run and was also part of the winning 4x400-meter relay team. Other team members in the 4x400-meter relay included junior Jensyn Garrow (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) and sophomores Hope Scholma (Montpelier, Ohio/Montpelier) and Jenna Gales (Mendon, Mich./Mendon).
In the weight throw, Eck had a best toss of 53' 7.75" (16.35 meters) to capture the MIAA individual championship. She went on to also claim the top spot in the shot put after a best effort of 41' 4.50" (12.61 meters).
Other top finishes in the field events included a third-place showing by sophomore Andrea Hagar (Goshen, Ind./Fairfield) in the weight throw with a distance of 46' 2.75" (14.09 meters). Freshman Jenny Flora (Greenfield, Ind./Greenfield Central) placed fifth in the shot put via a judges decision with a mark of 37' 1.00" (11.30 meters).
In addition, freshman Abigail Kuhlman set a school record in the triple jump with a distance of 34' 5.00" (10.49 meters) which was good enough for sixth place in the event. Kuhlman's mark surpassed the previous record of 32' 2.25" which was set by Miranda Iles during the 2009-10 season.
In the running events, Trine saw a school record fall in the prelims of the 60-meter dash by Scholma who ran a time of 8.06 seconds. Her mark improved the previous all-time mark by six one-hundreths of a second (8.12) that was previously held by Kaylyn Forrest and was set during the 2016-17 season. The Thunder had three runners qualify for the finals of the 60-meter dash, including Scholma, who placed second overall with a time of 8.12 seconds.
Bultemeyer had a standout day in the distance events by winning the 800-meter run in a time of 2:19.15 and placed second in the one-mile run, crossing the finish line in a time of 5:09.77.
In the 4x400-meter relay, the team of Bultemeyer, Garrow, Scholma and Gales posted an event-winning time of 4:05.80, setting a school and conference record by second-and-a-half (4:07.20). The quartet set the previous all-time mark last season, also during the conference meet to set both school and MIAA records.
Other top performances in the running events included a fourth-place finish by junior Hannah Blystone (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) in the one-mile run after recording a time of 5:26.15. Blystone also placed fifth in the 800-meter run after posting a mark of 2:26.36. Senior Kyla Binfet (West Yellowstone, Mont./West Yellowstone) placed fifth in the 5,000-meter run following a mark of 18:39.49. Gales placed fifth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.24 seconds and fourth in the 200-meter dash with a mark of 26.64 seconds.
Eck, Bultemeyer, Garrow, Scholma and Gales all earned All-MIAA accolades as event winners.