HOUGHTON, NY – The Alfred University women's track & field team had multiple personal bests during a strong showing at the Houghton University Highlander Invitational on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Saxons got things rolling when Mari Jablonski (Monticello, GA/Jasper County) won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 19:58.62, having closed the gap and capturing the lead on the final lap. Bianca Durso (Utica, NY/New Hartford Senior) followed the performance by qualifying for the finals in the 60-meter hurdles, eventually going on to take sixth place in the finals with a time of 10.60.
 
McKenzie Hall (Hornell, NY/Hornell) ran a 5:35.25 in the mile to take sixth place as well, fighting up from 10^th place to sixth in the last four laps of the race. "Many athletes achieved their personal best time/mark today which puts us in a great place as this is our first meet of 2023," Interim Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "We still have a lot of our season ahead so we are looking forward to seeing them improve even more. We welcomed Coach Sierra Wilson to her first meet as a member of our coaching staff. She has done a tremendous job already with our student-athletes and we are so happy to have her join our staff for this season!"
 
The duo of Olivia Gilbert (Ontario, NY/Wayne Central) and Sarah Lutkins (Union Springs, NY/Union Springs) had standout runs in the 800-meter run. Both took second in their heats as Gilbert's time of 2:27.92 was good enough for second place overall and Lutkins' time of 2:34.50 earned her sixth place, fourth place among NCAA Division III athletes as a runner from Division II Daemen and a runner from Division I St. Bonaventure both were ahead.
 
The 4x400-meter relay team of Ashley Page (Wayland, NY/Wayland-Cohocton), Gilbert, Ashley O'Toole (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) and Hall took fifth with a time of 4:38.82 to end the track events on Saturday.
 
Anne Spila (Mechanicsburg, PA/Trinity) finished second in the long jump behind a jumper from Division II, Roberts Wesleyan College. She jumped 5.05m on her first jump of the finals, surpassing her qualifying mark of 4.55m. Annabelle Townsend (Woodsville, NH/Woodsville) also qualified for the finals in the long jump, marking a distance of 4.45m to take sixth. Townsend went on to qualify for the finals in the triple jump, finishing with her best distance of 9.43m, earning that on her third attempt.
 
The Saxons will next travel to Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday, January 27 for a 4:00pm meet start.