HOUGHTON, NY — The Alfred University women's indoor track & field team got its season underway in Houghton against a variety of opponents in successful fashion.

"This early competition is so much fun," Head Coach Matt Phillips '10 said. "The athletes have been training for months and it's nice for them to finally get a chance to compete. Tonight allows the athletes to get a benchmark of where they are at, before we ead off on a month long winter break."

Natalya Ryckman (New Eagle, PA/Ringgold) took home a third place finish of in the weight throw, setting a personal best throw of 14.56 meters. She fell just a tenth of a meter short of a runner-up position, and just .03 meters off of a new school record.

Junior Zoe Rainville (Saranac, NY/Saranac) also had a nice start to her season, finishing third in her heat for the 200-meter with a time of 28.23. She also dashed to a 8.53 time in the 60-meter event.

Sophomore Alivia Kocan (Hornell, NY/Arkport Central) had no signs of a sophomore slump with a nice evening in competition as well. It included a top-five finish in her heat in the mile, clocking in at 6:19.79. Her fellow distance runner Vladyslava Makarenko (Berdychiv, Ukraine/Lyceum 23) opened the night with a sixth-place run in the 5000-meter race, finishing in 20:44.04.

"This team has a lot of potential, and we got a glimpse of that tonight" Phillips '10 said. "I'm really looking forward to when we all get back together in January."

Alfred University will get back together back at the Kerr-Pegula Fieldhouse on the campus of Houghton University for the next match-up on Saturday, January 24,

— Swords Forward Saxons —