by Alan Babbitt

Hope College's Hailey Pickelheimer clocked a season-best time in the 400-meter hurdles en route to a first-place performance at the Wheaton College (Illinois) Invitational on Saturday.

The junior from Powell, Ohio (Olentangy Liberty HS), pictured, finished in 1 minute, 7.12 seconds to lead a group of three Flying Dutch runners who scored in the event.

Hope placed fourth out of 13 teams with 106 points.

The Flying Dutch recorded runner-up performances in two events.

Junior Hannah Kenny of Grand Haven, Michigan (Grand Haven) came in second in the 3,000 steeplechase with a season-best time of 11:53.56. She was joined by three teammates who also scored in the event: senior Abby Couwenhoven of Mokena, Illinois (Lincoln Way East) in fourth at 12:12.08, freshman Lauryn Thompson of Portage, Michigan (Kalamazoo Hackett Cathlolic) in fifth at 12:21.98, and freshman Sarah Cannon of Grand Rapids, Michigan (East Grand Rapids) in eighth at 12:35.01.

Junior Mitchel Achien'g of Nairobi, Kenya (Kisumu) posted a runner-up triple jump of 11.19 meters (36 feet, 8 ½ inches).

Achien'g also clocked a third-place, 100-meter hurdle run of a season-best 15.48 seconds. She was fifth in the 100-meter run at 12.95 and sixth in the long jump at 5.29 meters (17-4 ¼).

In the 400 hurdles, senior Allison VanderStoep of Holland, Michigan (West Ottawa) took third with a run of 1:08.02. Freshman Hayley Scollard came in fifth at 1:09.05.

In the 400-meter run, junior Nicole Kruithof of Byron Center, Michigan (South Christian) placed third with a season-best run of 59.21 seconds.

Kruithiof, Achien'g and VanderStoep teamed with freshman Brenna Bastien of West Olive, Michigan (Allendale) for a third-place 4x100 relay of 50.28 seconds.

Kruithof and VanderStoep also took fourth in the 4x400 relay. They partnered with junior Sally Hansma of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Jenison) and junior Chelsea Miskelley of Holland, Michigan (Black River) for a run of 4:08.83.

Sophomore Emily Tyner of Ann Arbor, Michigan (Skyline) posted a fourth-place javelin toss of 30.00 meters (98-05).

Freshman Jenna Breuker of Grand Rapids, Michigan (Forest Hills Northern) finished fifth in the hammer throw at a season-best 42.86 meters (140-7) and sixth in the shot put at 12.20 meters (40-0 ½).

Sophomore Jacinda Cole of Holland, Michigan (West Ottawa placed eighth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:50.52. Junior Anna Frazee of Watervliet, Michigan (Home School) was eighth at 4:53.23.

Freshman Julia Robleski of Wheaton, Illinois (Wheaton Academy) took fifth in the 5,000 meters with a run of 19:20.48.

Freshman Gretchen Koster of came in fifth in the discus with a toss of 36.52 meters (119-10).

Miskelley was eighth in the 800 meters at 2:23.91.

Hope's next week is the Huntington University (Indiana) Invitational on Saturday, April 13.