Women's Track and Field Sets Three School Records, Runs Six More Season-Best Times at Last-Chance Meet

The Hope College women's outdoor track and field team set three school records at the University of Saint Francis (Illinois) Fighting Chance Invite this weekend.

The Flying Dutch established new top marks in the 200-meter run, the 4x100 relay and the 4x400 relay, and recorded six more season-best performances.

In the 4x400 relay, junior Catherine Leahy (Elk Rapids, Michigan / Elk Rapids HS), junior Frances Cozzens (Lyman, New Hampshire / Saint Johnsbury Academy), freshman Sofia Fisher (Lombard, Illinois / Montini Catholic) and junior Sara Schermerhorn (Traverse City, Michigan / Traverse City West) posted a school-record and first-place time of 3.47.16.

The relay eclipsed the 2023 Flying Dutch record of 3:49.54 set by Julie Timperman, Schermerhorn, Erin Moran and Grace Behrens in 2023, and puts them 15th in the NCAA Division III rankings.

In the 4x100 relay, junior Ava Schmidt (Saline, Michigan / Saline), Leahy, Fisher and Schermerhorn set a school record with a run of 47.16 seconds and placed third.

The relay topped the previous school record of 47.18, set at the MIAA Championships on May 2. Elmhurst University (Illinois) won at 45.88. The University of Chicago was runner-up at 47.14.

In the 200 meters, Schermerhorn sprinted to a second-placed time of 23.81 that topped her previous school record of 24.01, set in 2024. Faith Wyman of NCAA Division II Lewis University (Illinois) clocked a winning time of 24.33.

Wyman and Schermerhorn surpassed the previous meet record of 23.86, set last season.

Schermerhorn's run ranks fifth-fastest in the nation this season. Elmhurst's Alyssa Busker is first at 23.62.

Leahy finished sixth at a season-best 24.49. Fisher placed 15th at a season-best 25.40. Freshman Lydia Rowe (Livonia, Michigan / Adlai E. Stevenson) was 28th at a season-best 26.91.

In the 800 meters, junior Molly Durow (Glenview, Illinois / Glenbrook South) won her invitational section by recording a season-best run of 2:12.62.

In the 100 meters, Fisher took 15th in a field of 43 by posting a season-best time of 12.35. Rowe placed 37th at a season-best 12.89. Schmidt was 38th at 12.90.

Print Friendly Version