Mustangs Open Outdoor Season at a Successful Rhodes Invite

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Mount Mercy's women's track and field team opened their outdoor season competing at the Rhodes Invitational in Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, March 14, and Saturday, March 15th. The Mustangs dominated the field at the weekend invite, claiming multiple event titles and showcasing their depth across sprints, throws, and distance events.

Day one of the invite saw the Mustangs take the title in the hammer throw, led by Alyssa Striegel, coming out on top with a toss of 43.76m. Following Striegel was Ava Conrad in second throwing 42.60m, Natalie DeFord in third at 41.57m, and Grace Kelley in fifth at 41.25m. In the javelin throw, Dayna Maiers finished eighth with a throw of 25.23m, and Miyah Fox in ninth at 24.92m. 

The Mustangs continued their success on day two of the invite. The sprint events had Kaylee Bunn finish fourth in the 100m dash with a time of 12.99 and Corinne Gadient taking the title of the 200m dash at a time of 26.99. Following Gadient in the 200m was Bunn in seventh at 28.10 and Ester Attwood in tenth at 28.44. The 400m dash had Attwood coming in second at a time of 1:03.39 and Hannah Peters in sixth at 1:09.16.  Gadient took home another title after running the 800m run at a time of 2:19.09, followed by Catie Reittinger in fifth with a time of 2:25.49.

In the mile, Abby Knepper claimed the title for the event at a time of 5:17.11. J'Lyn Knutson trailed Knepper, finishing third at 5:26.32, with Reittinger finishing sixth at 5:29.40, Ruth Jennings in ninth at 5:35.99, and Annabelle Neal in tenth at 5:37.41.

The Mustangs continued to find success in the field events. Carla Santos finished second in the pole vault with a height of 2.90m. Haley Hartshorne finished fourth in the high jump with a final height of 1.40m and ninth in the long jump at 4.26m. 

In the discus throw, Ava Conrad claimed the title for the event with a toss of 40.42m, followed by Striegel in second at 38.81, Kelley in fourth at 37.50m, and Deford in ninth at 32.81m. Conrad also took home the title for the shot put with a heave of 12.22m. Striegel followed Conrad, finishing fourth at 10.96m, with Jaclyn Wooldridge in seventh at 10.28m, Claire Geerts in eighth at 10.07m, and Kelley rounding out the Mustangs in the event with a ninth-place finish with a toss of 10.06m. 

The Mustangs will be back in action on Friday, March 28, traveling to St. Louis, Mo., to participate in Washington University's Distance Carnival.