by Dena Meiste
Day one of MIAA Field Day is in the books for the Hope Colleges women's track and field team. With six events scored, the Flying Dutch sit in second place behind 42 points.
Hope is positioned to add significantly to its point total on Friday, May 7 at Alma College; at least two runners in each event advanced out of the preliminaries and into the finals on Friday.
Addyson Gerig (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa HS) earned high-point honors for the second meet in a row, scoring eight points with her runner-up finish in the high jump. The senior matched her season-best height, clearing 1.56 meters (5-feet, 1 1/4 inches).
Photo by Addyson Gerig by Lynne Powe
The Flying Dutch landed three student-athletes in the top eight in the long jump, led by Ellie Haan's third-place performance. The junior from McBain, Michigan (Northern Michigan Christian) stretched the tape to a career-best 5.00 meters (16-4 ¾), nine inches further than her previous personal standard.
Sophomore Helen Dodge (Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan / Grosse Pointe South) added three points to the team total with a sixth-place distance of 4.77 meters (15-7 ¾). Sophomore Laura Klubeck (Zeeland, Michigan / Holland Christian) claimed the eight-spot (4.54 meters, 14-10 ¾) to add one more to the tally.
Hope was led by sophomore Emma Althouse (Ludington, Michigan / Ludington) in the hammer throw, who placed fourth behind a distance of 42.02 meters (137-10 ¼).
Junior Lindsay Lane (West Olive, Michigan / West Ottawa), sophomore Kyria Gowman (Livonia, Michigan / Adlai Stevenson) and Bethany Colbrunn (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland East) all vaulted their way to a height of 2.45 meters (8-¼).
Lane and Gowman ended tied for fifth place while Colbrunn, who cleared the crossbar on a later attempt, took sixth. Collectively, they added nine points to the team's total.
Sophomore Amelia Bont (Chesterfield, Michigan / Anchor Bay) delivered a sixth-place performance in the shot put with a throw of 11-meters flat (36-1).
In the day's lone scoring event on the track, sophomore Gabriella Taylor (Grand Rapids, Michigan / Forest Hills Northern) and freshman Olivia Quillan (Grandville, Michigan / Calvin Christian) went five-six in the 10,000-meter race. Taylor turned in a time of 40:03.32 followed by Quillian with a 40:45.00.
The track hosted the preliminary races of six different events on the opening day of competition. At least two Hope runners qualified for Friday's finals in each event.
