by Dena Meiste
Junior Grace Behrens and senior Hayley Scollard combined for three individual race victories and a win in the relays to lift the Hope College women's track and field team to a first-place finish at the Manchester University Invitational.
The Flying Dutch scored 186 points in the 12-team event, followed by Grace College (Ind.) in a distant second with 127.
Behrens (Mishawaka, Indiana / Trinity School At Greenlawn) earned two wins on the day, leading the field in both the 400 and 200-meter sprints. The senior won the 400 meters in a time of 1:00.04, while clocking a 26.27 to take the 200 meter crown.
Scollard (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City Central) posted another win for Hope with her standout performance in the 400-meter hurdles. The senior clocked a time of 1:09.71 to pace the field.
Together, they combined with Jacinda Cole and Ellie Jankowski for a first-place result in the 4x400 meter relay, crossing the line at the 4:17.37 mark.
The Flying Dutch swept the top four spots in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, led by freshman Maddy Struck. The Hainesville, Illinois (Grayslake Central) native clocked a season-best time of 12:18.48. Fellow freshman Kennedy Kuhlmann (Grand Blanc, Michigan / Grand Blanc) also posted her best time of the young season, 12:37.60, to follow in second place.
Lauren Taylor (Yorkville, Illinois / Yorkville) and Emily Unger (Montague, Michigan / Montague) rounded out the top-four after finishing in times of 12:45.95 and 12:51.81, respectively.
Cole (Holland, Michigan / West Ottawa) delivered in the 800 meters, placing second overall with a time of 2:21.26, while Jankowski (Granger, Indiana / Penn) added two points after placing seventh (2:29.61).
Allison Schram (Fenton, Michigan / Hartland) and Taylor Novotny went two-three in the high jump competition. Schram cleared a height of 1.45 meters, while Novotny pushed the bar up to 1.40 meters.
In the triple jump, Novotny (Batavia, Illinois / Batavia) soared a career-best distance of 10.04 meters to secure third place, followed by Ellie Haan in fifth with her jump of 9.17 meters.
Novotny continued to collect points across the field events, picking up a fourth-place result in the long jump with another season-best performance as she stretched the tape to 4.58 meters.
Schram and Ellie Haan (McBain, Michigan / Northern Michigan Christian) trailed Novotny in fifth (4.27 meters) and sixth (4.33 meters), respectively.
Hope landed three top-eight finishers in the javelin throw, paced by Libby Strotman (Park Ridge, Illinois / Maine Township) with a third-place toss of 30.19 meters. Riki Ediger (Hudsonville, Michigan / Hamilton) took fifth behind a throw of 28.59 meters, followed by Amanda Timonen in sixth (28.39 meters).
Greta Robrahn (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland East) and Alana Policastro (Geneva, Illinois / Geneva Community) both scored points in the shot put. Robrahn took fourth with a toss of 12.45 meters ()while Policastro settled for seventh behind a distance of 10.28 meters.
Marlie McDonald (Saranac, Michigan / Lowell) led Hope in the hammer throw, taking fifth overall (37.32).
Back on the track, Amanda Lines (Naples, Florida / First Baptist Academy) and Kimmie Drake (Katy, Texas / Seven Lakes) crossed the finish line in fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 100 meters. Lines stopped the watch at 13:18 while Drake was credited with a time of 13.72.
Lines also placed fourth (27.35) in the 200 meters.
Lily Kueber (Northville, Michigan / Saint Catherine of Siena) landed on the podium in the 100-meter hurdles, posting a time of 17.82.
Hope continues the outdoor season on Thursday, April 14, with the Calvin University Spring Thing.
