Ravens Take Three Wins in Fred Wilt Invitational

The Anderson University women's track and field team took three wins during Saturday's Fred Wilt Invitational in Kardatzke Wellness Center.

"All in all, it was a great day for the Ravens," Coach Sol Stephens said. "We had still had some good performances coming off the emotional high and toughness it takes to survive through the conference meet and then come back a week later and dial it up. It's a good sign for where we are trainingwise mentally and physically."

Anderson fielded a 4x400-meter relay of Katelyn Englert, Emily Smatlak, Mariah Murray and Victoria Baver, which captured first with a season-best time of 4 minutes, 13.54 seconds. The Ravens trail the school record by 5.00 seconds.

"The women's 4x400 is now in the ballpark of where we should be," Stephens said. "It's where I was hoping we would have been last week, but it's evidence that we're there, so we just have to keep putting our left foot in front of our right foot and keep putting those pieces together."

"Our 4x400 has a best for the year, which was only five seconds away from the school record," Murray said. "I think it's definitely momentum going into the outdoor season. We hope to get the record soon and keep breaking the record later on."

Englert charged to first in the 60-meter hurdles with a personal-record (PR) time of 10.17 seconds.

Murray claimed first in the high jump, clearing a height of 1.62 meters (5 feet, 3.75 inches). She sprinted to second in the 60-meter dash with a PR time of 8.13 seconds.

"[Saturday] was my last home meet ever and I think it went really well. I PRed in the 60. In the high jump, I'm excited to use our momentum to go into the outdoor season."

Noelle Loller secured second in the 1-mile run with a PR time of 5:48.94. The Lapel native clocked a PR time of 2:39.62 in the 800. "Noelle ran a great double in a 40-minute window," Stephens said. Emily Kelley locked up third in the weight throw with a PR toss of 13.63 meters (44 feet, 8.5 inches). She launched the shot put a distance of 9.33 meters (30 feet, 7.25 inches). "I think [Saturday] was a really good last meet," Kelley said. "I got a PR in the weight throw, so it was a really good finish to the indoor season." Krista Franklin turned in season-best times in the 200 (30.71) and the 60-meter dash (8.77).

Anderson recognized Murray, Kelley and manager Kennedy Watters on Senior Day. 

"Mariah has been the engine to this car for the past number of years; 'A' with her attitude and 'B' with her performance," Stephens said. "During her good days, her bad days, her indifferent days, her great days, she is still putting the team first and that's what we are looking for in our Ravens.

"The same can be said about Emily. Beginning from the first day I meet her in my class in P.E. 1000, I talked into going out to throw and she took a liking to it, she put the work in and I'm expecting to see her get rewarded in the outdoor meet at Rose-Hulman.

"Kennedy has been the manager these last couple of years. She's done a lot of things in the background that people don't know about. I couldn't be prouder of my senior ladies."