Saturday, February 21, 2009

Senior Amanda Body (Harlan, Ky./Harlan) registered four top-two finishes on Saturday, including a school record-setting performance in the 200m dash, as the Valparaiso women’s track and field squad competed Saturday at the Boilermaker Invitational in West Lafayette, Ind.

Body crossed the line in the 200m dash in 25.58 seconds, shaving two-tenths off of her fastest time of the season in the event and lowering her old school record in the event by .04.  The senior placed second in the event and posted a matching runner-up finish in the 60m dash with a time of 7.91 seconds, just .01 off of her own school record.

On the infield, Body finished atop the podium in the long jump, registering a leap of 17’2 ¾” to earn top honors.  She also brought home her third silver finish of the day in the triple jump, leaping a season-best 35’4 ½”.

Elsewhere on the track, reigning Horizon League U.S. Army Scholar-Athlete of the Week Alyssa Bradford (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) had a career-best effort in the 800m run, finishing in second place.  The junior crossed the line in 2:19.32, cutting over four seconds off of her previous career best and coming up just shy of a spot on Valpo’s top-five list in the event all-time.  Senior Laura Rolf (Rochester, Mich./Lutheran Northwest), who took Horizon League Women’s Track Athlete of the Week honors last week, posted a season-best time of 5:01.11 in the mile run for a fourth-place finish.

Senior Julie Flowers (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson) made her first appearances of the season for the Crusaders in the throwing events and led Valpo in both.  Flowers put up matching eighth-place finishes in the shot put (34’4 ¾”) and the weight throw (42’3 ½”).

The Crusaders return to the track next weekend at the Horizon League Indoor Championships on Feb. 28 and March 1, being contested this year in Greencastle, Ind.  Both days of competition begin at 8 a.m. CST.