HPU Women’s Track Completes Day One at PSU/JDL

• Senior Leah Anne Wirfel posted the fastest time in the Big South this season in the 5000m (17:43.33) at the PSU National
• Junior Jamie Schnuck was 19th in the weight throw at PSU with a mark of 14.21m (46-7.50)
• Junior Amanda Gregory posted a top-25 finish in the long jump at JDL with a mark of 5.14m (16-10.50) to place 21st

The High Point University women’s track & field team split up for a pair of meets in University Park, Pa., and Winston-Salem, N.C., on Friday.

Penn State National Invitational

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – HPU entered student-athletes into a pair of events on day one of the Penn State National Invitational.

Senior Leah Anne Wirfel shined for HPU in Happy Valley, as the senior posted a PR of 17:43.33 to finish second in the 5000m run. The time is the best in the Big South this season by close to 40 seconds. In addition to Wirfel’s strong time, junior Julia Zautcke finished sixth in a solid time of 18:06.40.

In the weight throw, junior Jamie Schnuck competed in a strong field and placed 19th with a mark of 14.21m (46-7.50).

“Our distance runners at Penn State generated the highlights of the day, hands down,” associate head coach Eric Dudley said. “Leah Anne set a personal best in the 5000m and Julia raced well.”

JDL Hilton Garden Innvitational

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C – The Panthers put together a group of solid performances on day one of the Hilton Garden Innvitational at the JDL Fast Track.

In jumps action, junior Sarah Katherine Kirkpatrick was 26th in the high jump (1.47m, 4-9.75) along with teammates Erika Bridges and Erica Herrmann. Junior Amanda Gregory led the Panthers with a 21st-place finish in the long jump (5.14m, 16-10.50) while sophomore Alexis Fernandez finished 34th with a mark of 4.90m (16-1). Freshman Ashlynn Schiro was 37th (4.88m, 16-0.25).

Schiro also posted a solid time of 9.28 seconds in the 60m hurdles and will compete in the semis of the event on Saturday.

Sophomore Cozette Collin led HPU with a 34th-place finish in the 3000m run (10:38.29), while junior Erika Peoples finished 42nd in 10:51.93. Junior Sarah Bode was 57th in 11:50.40.

Senior Emily Fischer finished 40th out of 91 competitors in the 400m run with a time of 1:01.25 and freshman CeAnna Soper placed 63rd in 1:03.97. In the 800m run, sophomore Natalia Ocasio placed 34th out of 74 runners with a time of 2:22.79 while Kirkpatrick was 49th in 2:26.90.

In sprints action, four Panthers competed in the 60m dash. Junior Amanda Gregory (8.27), freshman Mikaela Campbell (8.28) and sophomore Alyn Carr (8.29) finished in spots 58-60 (out of 83 participants), while freshman Haley Cianfarini was 73rd in 8.56 seconds.

Senior Ashton Kirby placed 16th in the pole vault with a mark of 2.90m (9-6.25).

The Panthers wrap the PSU National and Hilton Garden Innvitational on Saturday.

“Every journey has a beginning, middle and end,” Dudley said. “The beginning and end are pretty well defined, but there are a lot of ways to connect the two. Much of our team is experiencing that typical mid-season variability. We really need to zero in on our target, the Big South Championships, soon.”