ALLENDALE, MICH. -- Sophomore Evie Bultemeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) broke the school record in the mile with the top overall time by a NCAA Division III competitor so far this season in the event to help lead the Trine University women's track & field team at the Grand Valley State University Open in Allendale, Mich.
The Trine women finished with a combined team total of 17 points to place ninth overall and was the lone non-scholarship school in the field of 18 teams. Host school GVSU won the event with 132 points. Toledo (Ohio) University was second at 120.5 points and Lewis (Ill.) University was third with 100 points.
Bultemeyer finished fourth overall in the mile run behind three Toledo athletes with a Thunder record time of 4:54.89. Her time was nearly 11 seconds faster than the previous mark (5:05.6) which was held by Trisha King who ran the time during the 2015 season. Bultemeyer also went on to post a top-10 finish in the 800-meter run with a sixth-place effort, crossing the finish line in a time of 2:15.68.
Senior Hannah Blystone (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) joined Bultemeyer in the 800-meter run and placed ninth overall in the event with a time of 2:21.84. In addition, freshman Chloe Brittain (Breckenridge, Mich./Breckenridge) also competed in the 800m and placed 14th with a mark of 2:24.28.
Senior Jensyn Garrow (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) recorded a pair of strong performances in both the 400 and 200-meter dashes. Garrow recorded her best finish of the day in the 400-meter dash after completing the race in a time of 59.42 seconds which was good enough for sixth overall in a field of 40 athletes. She also posted a top-15 finish in the 200-meter dash with the 13th fastest mark out of 59 total runners at 26.70 seconds.
Senior Lacie Piekarski (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) placed in the top-10 in the 5000-meter run in sixth place after completing the event in a time of 18:43.96 among a field of 20 runners.
Completing the list of top efforts in the running events was the team of Garrow, Blystone, sophomore Elizabeth Lohman (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) and Bultemeyer who posted a combined time of 4:10.59 in the 4x400-meter relay which posted as the sixth fastest time overall.
Highlighting the field events was a pair of top-15 showings by junior Andrea Hagar (Goshen, Ind./Faifield) in the weight throw and sophomore Abigail Kuhlman (Napoleon, Ohio/Napoleon) in the pole vault. Hagar recorded a distance of 47' 3.00" in the weight throw to place 14th out of 47 total competitors. Kuhlman was one of three Trine athletes to clear the bar in the pole vault at a height of 8' 10.75" and placed 14th.
In addition to Kuhlman, freshmen Mackenzie Bristol (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West) and Autumn Presley (Pleasant Lake, Ind./Angola) also had a best height of 8' 10.75" and placed 15th and 16th, respectively, to complete the back-to-back-to-back finishes by the Thunder in the event.
Trine will next compete in the two-day Hillsdale (Mich.) College Wide-Track Classic next Friday-Saturday, Feb. 1-2 in Hillsdale, Mich. The first events both days are slated to begin at noon.
