ATLANTA, GA. -- The Trine University women's track and field team began the outdoor season at the Emory University Invitational in Atlanta, Ga.
In the team standings, Trine finished with an overall score of 48 points to place fourth of 31 teams. Host school Emory finished first with 114 points and Clayton State (Ga.) University was second with 70 points. University of West Georgia rounded out the top three with 60 points.
Highlighting the throwing events was the duo of junior Andrea Hagar (Goshen, Ind./Fairfield) and freshman Valerie Obear (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern). Hagar recorded a pair of runner-up finishes in the hammer and discus throws with marks of 151' 7.00" in the hammer and 128' 2.00" in the discus. Obear placed third in the hammer with a toss of 150' 5.00" and was fourth in the discus following a mark of 124' 10.00".
In the running events, sophomore Evie Bultemeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) recorded two second-place showings in the 1500-meter and 800-meter runs. Bultemeyer ran a time of 4:29.99 among the competitors in heats 1-4 of the 1500m to finish second overall and had a time of 2:10.23 in the 800m to finish as the runner-up in the event. Both marks were school records. She bettered her own record in the 1500m by nearly 20 seconds that she set last year at 4:47.58. Her mark in the 800m was a school record surpassing the previous mark of 2:11.64 which was set by Trisha King during the 2014 outdoor season.
Trine also had two other individuals place in the top-10 in the 1500m in senior Hannah Blystone (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) and freshman Chloe Brittain (Breckenridge, Mich./Breckenridge). Blystone crossed the finish line in seventh place after posting a mark of 4:51.81 and Brittain was 10th with a time of 4:54.19.
Brittain also competed in the 800m along with Bultemeyer, and recorded the sixth-fastest time in the event of 2:19.30.
In the 3000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Elizabeth Lohman (Fort Wayne, Ind./Carroll) posted a top-10 time of 12:09.97 to place eighth overall.
Senior Lacie Piekarski (Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake) finished fourth in the 10,000-meter run in a time of 39:00.47.
Sophomore Miranda Coombs (Lexington, Mich./Croswell Lexington) had the ninth quickest mark in the 5000-meter run of 21:50.58.
In addition to the individual efforts, Trine had a top-five relay team in the 4x400-meter relay. Freshman Te'Shiya McCarter (Fort Wayne, Ind./Woodlan), Brittain, freshman Jasmine Carson (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) and Bultemeyer had a combined time of 4:05.78 to place fifth.
Trine will next compete in the Hanover Invitational hosted by Hanover College next Saturday, Mar. 30 in Hanover, Ind. The meet is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
