ROCHESTER, NY – The Alfred University women's track & field team finished in fifth place of the Empire 8 Indoor Championships, hosted by Nazareth College on Saturday.
 
The Saxons scored 39.5 points between the two days. "This ladies squad is something special. We set our bar high for this meet, pushing them out of their comfort zones and in some cases asking them to do four, five, six or even seven events! They have worked incredibly hard each and every day and the T&F coaching staff is so proud of what they have already accomplished," Interim Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "A big shout out to Bianca, Anne and Liv. Bianca and Anne had an incredible pentathlon, both breaking the prior school record! I am so happy with how they performed, as the pent is a grueling event. They've put in the time and dedication and to both come away with such great scores is truly unbelievable. Liv has had a tremendous season. With how her training and her races have been progressing, I knew she was capable of running some very fast times this weekend. In the 800m she was boxed in early but stayed patient in the race. When the opportunity presented itself, she made a strong move and never looked back. That confidence helped secure a first place finish and I couldn't be happier for her."
 
AU's top performance of Saturday was Olivia Gilbert (Ontario, NY/Wayne Central) as she won the 800-meter run. Gilbert beat the rest of the field by over a second as she ran a 2:26.48. She got boxed in during her second lap that forced her down four spots before she busted out of the pack, jumping the four spots back to the No. 1 position. She did that with a four second improvement on her lap split and increased that by another two seconds during her final loop.
 
Teammate McKenzie Hall (Hornell, NY/Hornell) was close to earning a spot on the podium in the 800-meters, running a 2:29.76 for seventh place, less than 0.20 seconds away from sixth.
 
The 4x400-meter relay team of Ashley Page (Wayland, NY/Wayland-Cohocton), Ashley O'Toole (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley), Annabelle Townsend (Woodsville, NH/Woodsville) and Sarah Lutkins (Union Springs, NY/Union Springs) combined to earn four points with their fourth-place finishing time of 4:29.97, wrapping up the track events.
 
Bianca Durso (Utica, NY/New Hartford Senior) had the best field finish of the day as she cleared 1.54m (5'-0.5") in the high jump. The height earned her All-Empire 8 Second Team as she finished behind the Empire 8 Field Athlete of the Meet, Brenna Johnson of Nazareth College. Durso's six points in the event were supplemented by Anne Spila (Mechanicsburg, PA/Trinity) and her 0.5 points after tying Claudia Vogel of St. John Fisher University with a height of 1.43m (4'-8.25") for sixth place.
 
Nyah Solly (Colden, NY/Springville-Griffith Institute) earned a spot in the All-Atlantic Regional Track & Field Conference Indoor Championships with her fifth-place distance of 10.79m (35'-4.75") in the triple jump. She reached that mark on her final attempt of finals after qualifying for the additional three attempts on her third jump of prelims, hitting 10.74m (35'-3").
 
The Saxons will next head to The Armory in New York City for the All-Atlantic Regional Track & Field Conference Indoor Championships on Friday, Mark 3 and Saturday, March 4.