HOUGHTON, NY – The Alfred University women's track & field team began its 2024 portion of its schedule with a well-rounded showing at Houghton University's Highlander Invitational on Saturday.
 
Olivia Gilbert (Ontario, NY/Wayne Central) and McKenzie Hall (Hornell, NY/Hornell) got things started for AU with going back-to-back in their finish during the women's mile run. Gilbert took eighth with a time of 5:43.74 while Hall was right behind in ninth with a time of 5:45.40, despite exchanging the lead with each other multiple times.
 
Anne Spila (Mechanicsburg, PA/Trinity) had the best individual finish of the day with a third place finish in the 60-meter hurdles, clocking in a time of 9.67.
 
"Great meet. We've had a couple of weeks of solid training since coming back from break and we saw some really good performances on and off the track today," Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "The team was out there supporting each other and that's the type of culture we want. We are excited to see what they can accomplish this season"
 
Annabelle Townsend (Woodsville, NH/Woodsville) took ninth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:08.18, just shortly before Hall earned another Top-10 finish, earning 10^th in the 3,000-meters with a time of 12:02.21.
 
The 4x400-meter relay team of Gilbert, Spila, Desirea Stuart (Jasper, NY/Jasper-Troupsburg) and Natalya Ryckman (New Eagle, PA/Ringgold) closed out the action in the track lanes with a time of 4:51.35, earning fourth in the event.
 
In the field events, Spila took fourth in the long jump with a distance of 5.13m (16'-10"). She hit 4.99m (16'-4.5") to earn a spot in the finals after two fouls. She then reached her best mark of the day on her fifth attempt. Townsend also earned a fourth place finish in a field event, joining Spila as she cleared 1.36m (4"-5.25") in the high jump, nearly reaching 1.41m (4'-7.5") on her final attempt.
 
Bianca Durso (Utica, NY/New Hartford Senior) took eighth in the shot put with a throw of 8.86m (29'-1").
 
The Saxons will next return to action on Friday, January 26 for a 4:00pm start at Rochester Institute of Technology.