ROCHESTER, NY – The Alfred University women's track & field team got its final tune-up before the Empire 8 Indoor Championships when the Saxons competed at the Nazareth College Friday meet.
 
Olivia Gilbert (Ontario, NY/Wayne Central) was the top story as she not only set a personal record in the 400-meter dash, but broke the Alfred University school record as well in the event! She snapped the old record of 1:02.33, set in 2015 by Mi'Asia Hillman '15 with her new time of 1:01.71. Gilbert finished fifth overall in the event.
 
"Another stellar day for the AU track & field squads," Interim Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "The women not only had 16 personal bests but one of them was a school record! Having seven Top-10 finishes was great and seeing Olivia take fifth in the 400 with the blazing time of 1:01.71 was the spark of excitement that any team would want as they head into their conference championships. Everyone has done a great job, it's been an amazing season so far and it's not over yet!"
 
The Saxon jumps had six individuals earn Top-10 finishes from just two events. In the high jump, Bianca Durso (Utica, NY/New Hartford Senior) had the 'highest' finish of the day (pun intended) as she cleared 1.52m (4'-11.75") to take second. Ana Ion (Bucharest, Romania/Episcopal School of Jacksonville) and Anne Spila (Mechanicsburg, PA/Trinity) tied with two other jumpers for seventh place with heights of 1.42m (4'-7.75").
 
The triple jump also featured three Saxons in the top spots. Nyah Solly (Colden, NY/Springville-Griffith Institute) had the top finish as she finished third overall and second among collegiate competitors. She hopped-skipped-jumped to a mark of 10.72m (35'-2") to lead the way. Ion finished right behind Solly with a distance of 10.72m (34'-5.75") while Annabelle Townsend (Woodsville, NH/Woodsville) took eighth (seventh collegiate) with a distance of 9.68m (31'-9.25").
 
The Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Championships will be held on Friday, February 24 with events slated to begin at 3:00pm. The championships will close on Saturday, February 25 with the first events starting at 10:00am.