GOSHEN, Ind. - The Goshen College women's track and field team had 15 top 10 finishes, including eight in field events, as they hosted their annual Maple Leaf Invitational on Saturday.
The Maple Leafs tallied 46 points, good for sixth of the seven teams on hand for the event at the Eigsti Track and Field Complex.
Freshman Maria Jantz (Newton, Kans.) had an outstanding meet, finishing with a pair of third-place efforts. Only one competitor cleared a better height in the pole vault as Jantz cleared 9'8.25". She would follow it with a mark of 29'9.75" in her first career competition in the triple jump.
Junior thrower Sonia Navarro (Goshen, Ind.) also scored in multiple events for the Maple Leafs. Her best finish of the day was fourth in the javelin with a throw of 73-feet, 7-inches. She also took seventh in the discus (80'10.5") and ninth in the shot put (27'11.75"). Maritza Chavez rounded out the points for the Goshen throwers with a ninth-place showing in the discus (74-feet, 2-inches).
Also in field events for the Leafs, senior Summer Hasan (Newton, Kans.) took seventh in the long jump (12'11.5").
On the track, the story for Goshen continues to be veterans in the distance events and newcomers in the sprints. In the 5,000 meters, junior Karla Folker (Goshen, Ind.) and sophomore Alli Beitler (Berne, Ind.) racked up 11 points for the Leafs with third (21:01.36) and fourth (21:30.08) place finishes, respectively, finishing only behind a pair of Chicagoland Athletic Conference racers.
The best short-event placing for the Leafs came in the 4x100 relay. Freshman Avery Bischoff (Petersburg, Mich.), Junior Ali Fretz (Lakewood, Colo.), junior Bethany Lemler (Bourbon, Ind.), and sophomore Sandrine Sandrali (Indianapolis, Ind.) ran a 54.43 to finish third. Biscoff, Fretz, and Sandrali also teamed with freshman Abby Deaton (Indianapolis, Ind.) to run a 4:26.29 4x400 to finish fifth.
Bischoff, Lemler, and Sandrali (all first-year competitors for Goshen) also had strong individual runs on Saturday. Bishcoff (28.92) edged out Sandrali (29.05) to win her heat and finish seventh overall in the 200 meters (Sandrali was eighth). Lemler also picked up a point for her team with an eighth-place showing of 14.34 seconds in the 100 meters.
Both the women's and men's track and field teams are scheduled to be back in action on April 13 and 14 at the Little State Championships. The annual event including collegiate programs from across the state (at all levels) will be hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion (Ind.).
