(Women's Results) Goshen, IN — A cool mist and temperatures hovering in the upper 40’s couldn’t deter the Goshen College women’s track & field team from putting together a solid performance at Saturday’s Goshen Invite, as eight first-place finishes and a pair of school records helped propel the Leafs to a second-place finish at the day-long event.

Goshen garnered a total 168 team points to finish behind only Mid-Central Conference rival Bethel College at the five-team meet, pleasing head coach Rick Clark in the program’s lone home meet of the outdoor season.

“We had a real balanced attack from both our men’s and women’s sides, and our women’s team picked up a lot of points in a lot of areas,” Clark said. “Combining both our men’s and women’s teams, this was the best result we’ve had at this event in a number of years.”

Leading the way for Goshen was freshman sensation Abri Houser who, despite a strained quadriceps muscle, broke the program record in the 400-meter hurdles. Houser finished second in a time of 1:08.18, breaking the school’s old mark of 1:09.93 set by Tina Miller in 1995. Houser also finished first in the 100-meter hurdles competition (:15.44) before being pulled from her normal relay team due to the injury.

“Abri ran strong in both of her hurdles races but we decided to pull her from the last relay due to her strained quad,” Clark said. “Given the fact that she hasn’t been able to train very hard, her accomplishments were very impressive.”

Houser took part in the 4 X 100 meter relay with classmate Rachel Versluis, senior Tara Plank and junior Lorna Matura to record a second-place clip of :53.09. Freshman Lydie Assefa filled in for Houser in the 4 X 400 relay, joining with Versluis, senior Rachel Yantzi and freshman Laura Harnish for a second place 4:22.39 finish.

Harnish was part of two other key runs, most notably a program-record setting effort in the 4 X 800-meter relay. Harnish teamed with Assefa, Yantzi and senior All-American Petrana Petkova to smash the previous program record of 10:15.57 with a first-place finish of 10:04.12 on Saturday. The broken mark was set last season with current sophomore Anna Mast running in place of Harnish.

Harnish also took first in the 800-meter run, finishing in a time of 2:23.96, a new Eigsti Complex record.

“Laura Harnish did a great job and ran away from the field in the 800,” Clark said.

Goshen also received strong pushes from its distance unit, with Petkova winning the 1,500-meter run in a time of 5:08.82. Junior Laura Herr backed Petkova with a convincing win in the 5,000-meter run, finishing in a time of 18:56.23.

“Laura Herr is really coming around,” Clark said. “She broke loose in the 5,000 and ripped the field. She is starting to see just how good she can be in these events.”

Assefa finished third in the 400-meter dash (:63.92), while Mast finished second in the steeplechase in a time of 13:59.65. Freshman Betsy Freeman led the squad in jumping events, taking first in the high jump with a clearance of 5 feet. Matura took first in the triple-jump, sailing over a distance of 32 feet even.

In field events, freshman Deanna Kronk continued to shine in the hammer throw, setting a new Eigsti Complex record by a Goshen athlete with a sling of 127 feet in the hammer throw, good for second place on the day. She also finished first in the shot put (38 feet, 10 inches) and second in the discus (119 feet, 8 inches). Senior Tara Plank finished third in the javelin throw, setting a new complex record by a Goshen athlete with a distance of 85 feet, 5 inches.

Bethel won the overall team competition, charting a total 262 team points. Goshen was second with 166, followed by Olivet College (54 points), the University of St. Francis (53 points) and Grace College (33 points). For a complete look at individual and team results, click here.

Goshen will next face off against all non-NCAA Division I schools at the annual Little State Championships. Competitions will begin Friday afternoon on the campus of Purdue University Indiana University of Indianapolis.