NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. -- The Trine University women's outdoor track and field team captured a team victory at the Manchester University Invitational, its second win in as many weeks, in North Manchester, Ind.
The Thunder posted a team score of 247.5 points to place first of eight teams. Grace College was second at 146 points and Hanover College was third with 93 points.
Trine had a number of event winners and top three finishes in the field events, including a pair of multiple individual champions in freshman Haley Livingston (Fort Worth, Texas/Everman) and junior Valerie Obear (Fishers, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern).
Livingston won both the long jump and triple jump with distances of 16' 10.00" and 35' 1.75", respectively. Obear posted winning distances in the discus (132' 7.00") and in the hammer (157' 2.00").
Also highlighting the day was sophomore Autumn Presley (Pleasant Lake, Ind./Angola) who won the pole vault and tied the school outdoor record in the event with a height of 10' 4.00".
Sophomore Madelyn Summers (Kendallville, Ind./East Noble) rounded out the winners in the field events by coming in first place in the shop put following a best toss of 37' 8.75". Additionally, junior Anna Kmec (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) competed in the shot put and placed third thanks to a throw of 36' 8.50".
Freshman Kit Kirkpatrick (Bristol, Ind./Northridge) also turned in a top three effort in the triple jump alongside Livingston by finishing third overall thanks to best distance of 30' 6.25." Fellow freshman Kennedi Sternberg (Kouts, Ind./Kouts) placed second behind Livingston in the long jump following a leap of 16' 1.00".
The final top performances in the field events were recorded by the duo of junior Stephanie Hartpence (Elkhart, Ind./Concord) and sophomore Lia Vawter (Franklin, Ind./Franklin) in the high jump. Both individuals cleared the bar at a height of 4' 11.00" with Hartpence taking second place and Vawter third place via judge's decision.
On the track, Livingston swept the hurdle events starting with a time of 16.12 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and then ran a time of 1:10.93 in the 400-meter hurdles to take top honors.
The Thunder went on to claim several more individual events, including taking the top three positions in the 3000-meter steeplechase led by senior Elizabeth Lohman (Fort Wayne, Ind./Caroll) who posted a winning time of 11:21.45. Senior Megan Theismann (Ossian, Ind./Norwell) came in second place (11:40.10) and senior Stacy Dibley (Bristol, Ind./Elkhart Central) was third (13.19.60).
Senior Evie Bultemeyer (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) saw her first action of the season and won the 1500-meter run in a time of 4:41.49. She was followed by teammate Amira Faulkner (Bellbrook, Ohio/Bellbrook) who crossed the finish line at a time of 4:56.45.
The final event champion was junior Chloe Brittain (Breckenridge, Mich./Breckenridge) in the 800-meter run. Brittain ended the event with a time of 2:21.53 and was followed by Faulkner who had a time of 2:23.80.
In the 5000-meter run, the Thunder had two runners place in the top three in senior Ruth Luebcke (Harlem, Ga./Crown Point) and sophomore Alli Smith (Temperance, Mich./Temperance Bedford). Luebcke finished in the runner-up position with a time of 19:28.98 and Smith crossed the line in third place in a time of 19:32.97.
Wrapping up the top performances on the day was Hartpence in the 400-meter dash where she placed third thanks to a time of 1:04.10 and Sternberg who also recorded a third-place finish, but in the 100-meter dash after running a time of 12.86 seconds.
Next on the schedule for the team is the DePauw Invitational next Saturday, Apr. 17 in Greencastle, Ind.
