Indianapolis, IN — Friday and Saturday at the Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis Track & Field Complex, the Goshen College women’s track program got an opportunity to show the rest of the state what it was made of.

It proved it was one of the best.

Competing against all NAIA, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III Indiana institutions, Goshen finished eighth out of 20 teams at this weekend’s Little State Championships, taking a pair of first-place performances to go with three new school records set. Goshen’s overall team finish — the squad garnered a total 33 points — was the best result in program history since the field expanded to more than 15 teams, giving the Leafs a boost of confidence in one of the oldest track and field meets in the nation.

“Our women’s team was very pleased with finishing eighth in such a large field of teams,” said Rick Clark, Goshen head coach. “Even with this performance, we felt like there were areas that we could have fared better and picked up even more points. Overall, though, it was a good weekend for us. We’re going to continue to improve as the season continues.”

Improvements weren’t needed this weekend for junior Petrana Petkova and freshman Laura Harnish, as the tandem secured Little State Championships in the 10,000-meter and 800-meter runs, respectively. Petkova’s clip of 36:47.36 in the 10,000 met the NAIA qualifying mark for the event, while Harnish’s first-place time of 2:19.39 set a new program record. Her Saturday clip wiped out the school’s previous best mark — set by 2004 graduate Heidi Saunders in 2002 — of 2:19.82.

“Petrana ran away from the field over the last 3,000 meters and surpassed the NAIA automatic national qualifying mark for the event in the process,” Clark said. “Harnish ran a very intelligent race, catching the two leaders on the last curve and out-kicking them in the last 80 meters.”

While not able to capture a first-place ribbon, freshman Abri Houser was busy again re-writing more program records, setting new school marks in both the 100- and 400-meter hurdles events. Houser broke her own records in both events, running the 100-meter race in a clip of :15.30 (bettering her previous best of :15.34) and pacing the 400-meter event in a time of 1:07.07 (knocking out her old clip of 1:08.18). Houser’s top mark in the 100-meter race came in the preliminary round, while her time of :16.64 in Saturday’s final run was enough for seventh place overall.

“Abri had an outstanding weekend in her hurdles events,” Clark said. “Both school records were set during Friday’s trials, where temperatures were much milder than the cool Saturday conditions. Had the finals been run on Friday, Abri might have been able to place even higher within the competitive field.”

With Petkova and Harnish collecting the majority of the squad’s points, Goshen received a variety of other top 10 performances to complement its pair of championships. In addition to Houser’s seventh-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles, junior Laura Herr placed fifth in the 10,000-meter run (39:29.60), freshman Deanna Kronk sixth in the shot put (38 feet, 2 inches) and freshmen Betsy Freeman seventh in the high jump (4 feet, 11 inches). Sophomore Lindsy Glick took seventh place in the pole vault competition (8 feet, 6 inches), while the 4 X 400 relay team of Harnish, Houser, senior Rachel Yantzi and freshman Lydie Assefa finished sixth in a time of 4:10.86.

“Our 4 X 400 relay team closed the meet out by winning their heat and placing sixth overall,” Clark said. “They dropped 14 seconds off their season-best mark in the process. Anytime you can finish in the top five or six in any event in a meet of this magnitude, it is impressive. We have a group of athletes with the skill and potential to really make strong pushes as we near the season’s end.”

The University of Indianapolis won the overall event with a total 185.25 points. Bethel College (54 points) and Indiana Wesleyan University (46 points) were the only Mid-Central Conference teams to place higher than Goshen at the meet. For a complete list of individual and team results, click here.

Goshen will next participate in the Anderson University Runners Forum Invite on Thursday.