Relays Thrive at Site of This Year's NCAA Nationals
1/27/07

The Rhodes women continued their excellent indoor season competing at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, in Terra Haute. The meet was the Lynx first opportunity to compete at the facility that will host the 2007 NCAA Indoor Nationals this March.

The Lynx demolished both the school record in the 4x200 and 4x400 meter relays. In the first race of the day, Senior Elizabeth Erny (Sacred Heart/Louisville,KY), Sophomore Valisa Berber-Thayer (Fredricksburg/Fredricksburg,TX), Sophomore Annie Bell (MICDS/St. Louis,MO), and Freshman Julia Goss (Visitation/St.Louis,MO) won the 4x200 in a time of 1:49, missing the facility record by only a few tenths. Joined by Freshman Kristin Forbes (Hillsboro/Nashville,TN) and Sophomore Emily Broocks (Cedar Creek/Ruston,LA), Erny and Goss returned for the 4x400, to win the last event of the day in a time of 4:02.18, one of the faster times in NCAA Division III this year.

The Lynx also competed well in their individual events. In the jumps, Goss was only twenty centimeters off a NCAA National Provisional mark with a long jump of 5.23 meters (17’2”). Bell has been consistent all year in the triple jump, winning with a performance of 10.65 meters (34’11.25”). Forbes won the 400 meter dash in a time of 59.39, while Sophomore Alanna Topps (Gallatin/Hendersonville,TN) won the 55 meter hurdles and also setting a personal best with a time of 9.06. Including Topps, the Lynx had 5 runners in the finals of the high hurdles. The Rhodes women also showed depth in the pole vault, led by Freshman Kim Tryon (Gulf Breeze/Gulf Breeze,FL) who set an indoor school record by only a centimeter with a leap of 2.80 meters (9’2.25”).

Prior to the relay, Broocks ran her first mile of the season in a time of 5:30.80. She was joined by Freshman Cybil Covic (Cordova/Cordova,TN) and Freshman Charlotte Ashford (Highland Park/Highland Park,IL), both setting personal bests with times of 5:27.58 and 5:35.12 respectively. Additionally in the distance events, Freshman Kate Scherer (St. Ursula/Cincinatti,OH) and transfer-freshman Meredith Jones (Ridgewood/Ridgewood,NJ) finished 3rd and 4th in the 3,000 meter run with their strong runs of 11:21.39 and 11:27.70.

The Lynx will take a week off, before their month-long push towards qualifying in several events for the NCAA Indoor Nationals.

Complete Results