Upland, IN / Bloomington, IN — Though just three weeks into the indoor portion of its 2006 season, the Goshen College women’s track and field program is off to an uproarious beginning. So impressive, in fact, that one meet could not contain a total four school records being broken on Friday and Saturday, as most of the team participated in the Taylor University Invitational with one athlete running in the Hoosier Hills Relays at Indiana University.

No matter the location, Goshen’s results were astounding.

At Taylor, three Leaf records were falling, led by freshman Deanna Kronk’s 42 feet, 11 inch toss in the 20-pound weight throw, erasing the record of 39 feet even set last season by current senior Rachel Yantzi. Freshman Rachel Versluis tied the school record in the pole vault with a clearance of 9 feet, 6 inches — 2005 graduate Erin Williams also set that mark last year — while the 4 X 800 relay team of Yantzi, sophomore Anna Mast and freshmen Lydie Assefa and Laura Harnish shattered the school record in a time of 10:21.91. That clip broke a four-year old mark of 10:43.77.

And while most of the team was enjoying the success at Taylor, junior All-American Petrana Petkova was going to work at I.U. on Friday, finishing second overall in the 5,000-meter run in a new school-record time of 17:19.53. That clip erased the former program record set by Petkova last season — a clip of 17:23.49 — and unofficially became the fastest time at the NAIA level this year.

Though he could only be one place at one time, Goshen head coach Rick Clark was obviously thrilled with the weekend’s results.

“We had a very productive weekend,” Clark said. “At Taylor, we had three school indoor records established, one overall winner and four runner-up finishes. Add to that Petrana’s performance at the Hoosier Hills, and it was a very good couple of days.”

Kronk finished as the most decorated athlete by comparison, as her program-record toss in the weight throw was good for fourth overall in the event. Kronk won the shot put competition with a sling of 38 feet, 3 inches, though that mark fell 4 feet, 1 inch short of the school mark.

Junior Laura Herr finished second overall in the 3,000-meter run in a time of 11:12.68, while the distance medley relay team of Yantzi, Harnsih, Assefa and freshman Abri Houser finished runners up in a time of 13:17.61. The 4 X 800 relay team’s school record was good for a fourth-place finish overall, while Versluis’ pole vault clearance was a fifth-place performance.

“Deanna Kronk had a big day winning the shot put and then setting a new school record in the 20-pound weight throw,” Clark said. “Both of our women relay teams ran very well, finishing runner up in the distance medley and then breaking the school record in the 4 X 800. Laura Herr had a very impressive run with a second-place finish in the 3,000, and Rachel Versluis had a nice debut in the pole vault where she tied our indoor record.”

Houser also finished third in the 55-meter hurdles event (:08.76) while she and classmate Betsy Freeman finished tied for fourth in the high jump, each clearing a height of 4 feet, 11 inches.

Petkova’s effort, meanwhile, was perhaps the most impressive to Clark, as the senior finished as the nation’s 5,000-meter runner up in last year’s NAIA National Championships. Her mark Saturday places her as the fastest athlete in the country at the NAIA level in that event, while her time is significantly quicker at this point in the season than it was last year.

“Her performance at the Hoosier Relays showed that she is ahead of last year’s training when she was NAIA runner up in the 5,000,” Clark said. “She was competing in the seeded section against NCAA D1 and post-collegiate club athletes, which shows the impressiveness of her run.”

Complete meet results from the Taylor Invite can be viewed by clicking here. Results of the Hoosier Hills Relays are available by clicking here.

Goshen will next host its lone home indoor meet of the season, as Mid-Central Conference rival Bethel College and Tri-State University will visit the Roman Gingerich Center Friday evening. Field events are slated to begin at 5:15 p.m., while running events will begin at approximately 7 p.m.