The Valparaiso women's track and field squad kicked off its 2012 outdoor campaign this weekend at the Mike Poehlein Invitational, hosted by Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind.

On the infield, sophomore Sarah Drozdowski (Roselle, Ill./Lake Park) broke into Valpo's all-time top-fives with PRs in two events over the course of the two-day meet. Drozdowski set a new personal best in the hammer throw, registering a mark of 160'2”, the second-best effort all-time at Valpo and good for a seventh-place finish. Competing in the javelin throw for the first time, Drozdowski cracked the Crusaders' chart in that event as well, posting a distance of 122'6” to finish in third place and rank third in the Valpo annals.

Drozdowski rounded out a trio of top-ten finishes at Purdue with her performance in the shot put, placing seventh in the event with a toss of 41'1 3/4”. Also on the infield this weekend, sophomore Kelley Freeman (Valparaiso, Ind./Chesterton) earned a ninth-place finish in the pole vault, clearing 10'4”.

On the track, freshman Jessica Richardson (Columbus, Ind./North) broke into Valpo's all-time top-five in the 10,000m run despite running the event solo, as her time of 38:17.84 was the fifth-fastest in Crusader history. Sophomore Nicole Zehel (Wixom, Mich./Lutheran Westland) ran to a ninth-place finish in the 1,500m run with a time of 4:53.11, while Valpo's 4x400m relay squad of Malea Buck (Davenport, Iowa/Central), Kelli Wosick (Mount Prospect, Ill./Saint Viator), Brooke Hinstorff (Waterloo, Wis./Lakeside Lutheran) and Marissa Crafton (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) placed second in the 4x100m relay.

Valparaiso continues the 2012 outdoor season next Saturday, April 7 at the DePauw Invitational in Greencastle, Ind. Action from DePauw is slated to start at 11 a.m. CDT.