ALMA, MICH. -- Three individuals of the Trine University women's outdoor track and field team finished as conference champions after the first day of competition of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship hosted by Alma (Mich.) College in Alma, Mich.
After first day of scoring events, the Thunder currently lead in the team standings with 36.5 points. Albion (Mich.) College is second with 22 points and Hope (Mich.) College is third at 20 points.
Capturing individual event titles were senior Megan Theismann (Ossian, Ind./Norwell) in the 10,000-meter run, junior Valerie Obear (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) in the hammer throw, freshman Haley Livingston (Fort Worth, Texas/Everman) in the long jump and junior Autumn Presley (Pleasant Lake, Ind./Angola) in the pole vault. Additionally, Livingston broke her own school record in the prelims of the 100-meter hurdles.
Theismann was one of two Thunder runners to earn team points in the 10,000m highlighted by her first-place finish with a time of 38:09.10. Sophomore Alli Smith (Temperance, Mich./Temperance Bedford) placed fourth in the same race and posted a time of 39:56.05.
Obear became a first-time MIAA Champion in the hammer thanks to a throw of 176' 1.00". Sophomore Madelyn Summers (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) also recorded a top-eight distance in the hammer of 135' 11.00" which was good enough for fifth place overall.
Livingston captured her first conference individual title in the long jump thanks to a leap of 17' 0.75" and was joined by fellow freshman Kennedi Sternberg (Kouts, Ind./Kouts) who placed fifth by judges decision following a distance of 16' 2.50".
Additionally, Livingston improved upon her own school record in the prelims of the 100-meter hurdles with the top overall time of 15.72 seconds to advance to tomorrow's (Friday, May 7) finals. Her earlier record was set at the Wittenberg (Ohio) University Tiger Invitational in which she ran a time of 15.86 seconds.
Presley captured the pole vault as the Thunder swept the top-three spots in the event. Presley finished with a best height of 9' 2.25" and the duo of freshman Andrea Rodeheffer (Minster, Ohio/Fort Loramie) and junior Mackenzie Bristol (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha West) both ended the event with a best attempt of 8' 10.25" with Rodeffer taking second by judge's decision and Bristol was third.
In other "finals" events, sophomore Lia Vawter (Franklin, Ind./Franklin) and junior Stephanie Hartpence (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) both competed in the high jump with Vawter placing fourth at a height of 4' 11.00" by judge's decision and Hartpence tied for sixth place, also by judge's decision, with a height of 4' 9.75".
Rounding out the field events on day one was Summers and junior Anna Kmec (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) in the shot put with Summers placing fifth following a throw of 36' 9.50" and Kmec was seventh thanks to a toss of 35' 8.50."
In the remaining preliminary races on the track, Sternberg qualfied for the finals in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Sternberg ran a time of 12.72 seconds in the 100m and 26.70 seconds in the 200m. Trine had three runners advance to tomorrow in the 800-meter run, with junior Chloe Brittain (Breckenridge, Mich./Breckenridge) posting a time of 2:22.33 and will be joined by sophomore Amira Faulkner (Bellbrook, Ohio/Bellbrook) and senior Evie Bultemeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) who ran qualifying times of 2:20.22 and 2:22.42, respectively.
Completing the list of qualifiers in the running events was the duo of Hartpence and fellow junior Paige McGonigal (Coventry Twp., Ohio/Coventry) in the 400-meter dash. Hartpence ran a time of 1:03.31, while McGonigal had a mark of 1:04.62.
The MIAA Outdoor Championship concludes tomorrow (Friday, May 7) hosted by Alma in Alma, Mich. The day is scheduled to start at 10 a.m.