HOUGHTON, NY/EDINBORO, PA – The Alfred University women's track & field team began its 2023-24 indoor season with the majority of their team competing at the Houghton University December Classic with two Saxons at the Edinboro University Mike Kowal Multi Invitational.
 
Anne Spila (Mechanicsburg, PA/Trinity) broke her own school record of 2,803 points in the indoor pentathlon with a new score of 2,978 points. Not only was her score a personal best, but she had three events where she earned personal bests during the pentathlon. Spila ran a 9.59 in the 60-meter hurdles, reached 1.55m (5'-1") in the high jump and threw a 9.64m (31'-7.5") mark in the shot put. He score on Saturday was good enough for fifth place, earning four team points. Spila's highest scoring event was 791 points from her 60-meter hurdles.
 
Bianca Durso (Utica, NY/New Hartford Senior) finished ninth in the pentathlon as both Saxons were the only Division III competitors on Saturday, taking on Division II athletes. Durso scored 2,556 points with her top scoring event being the high jump, reaching 1.46m (4'-9.5") for 577 points.
 
"We saw a lot of performances this weekend that got us excited to be back in season," Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "We saw some really good competition from both meets, going against national standouts in Division III and even Division II. Now that we've had our opening weekend, we going to get back to work and improve on the areas that we need to when we get into 2024."
 
Olivia Gilbert (Ontario, NY/Wayne Central) had the best finish in the Houghton December Classic. She finished in third place during the 600-meter run, clocking a time of 1:41.55. She finished her first 200 meters in eighth place during her heat and was able to battle back to jump to third place as her heat claimed the top eight places. Gilbert only lost to runners from national powerhouse, SUNY Geneseo.
 
The Saxons will next return to action in 2024 when they return to Houghton University on Saturday, January 20 for a 10:30am meet start.