The Ferris women’s Track and Field team opened the 2020 season at the Saginaw Valley State Classic Friday, Jan. 10.
The women were all over the board placing high in multiple events. For the first meet of the new year this might have been a surprise, but the Bulldogs are a committed team and know what’s at stake.
“I would definitely credit the team and the work we have put in thus far,” said Ferris senior Taylor Thrush. “Training over winter break alone can be really difficult and to have a successful opener the week before classes means that everyone was out there putting work in this December.”
The Bulldogs had five of the top six place finishers in the women’s 800 meter. At the top was junior Sydney Dawes who won the 800-meter with a time of 2:31:08. The rest of the team followed with freshman Sydney Kubiak taking third (2:40:16), sophomore Callie Delaney taking fourth (2:41:61), sophomore Katrina Droski taking fifth (2:45:38) and junior Christine Rodgers coming in sixth (3:41:73).
The mile run was another strong area for the Bulldogs. Senior Katie Etelamaki came just shy of a victory, taking second with a time of 5:09:60. Junior Kylie Hutchinson took third place (5:15:72), junior Carissa Schurr took fourth place (5:18:92) and senior Taylor Thrush took fifth place (5:18:92).
“With it being the season opener, a lot of us transitioning from cross country ran the mile,” Thrush said. “We are all really focused on putting forth our best effort and working in groups for this meet, so again I would give credit to the team as a whole.”
The 3,000-meter race was not as successful, but the Bulldogs had some top 10 finishers. Etelamaki placed fourth (10:34:35), along with sophomore Paige Detering placing seventh (11:04:86) and Hutchinson placing eighth (11:21:85).
In the field portion of the event, the women had two very successful events which consisted of the high jump and shot put. Junior Amanda Eslinger tied for second place in the high jump with 1.54m. In shot-put, sophomore Brianna Copley took runner up with 12.59m and freshman Emma Stephayn took fifth in the weight throw (14.01m).
“For me I am hoping to run a PR in the 5k and hopefully run sub 5 in the mile,” Etelamaki said. “We are also looking at putting together a solid DMR so qualifying that really would be amazing looking forward to working through my last indoor season while running good races but also getting ready for outdoor.”
The Bulldogs will compete next at Grand Valley State University Friday, Jan. 17, and Saturday, Feb. 1.