Golden Eagles News
Cornerstone Jill Louisignau during the steeplechase.
Cornerstone Jill Louisignau during the steeplechase.
 
Women's Outdoor Track & Field - Sat, Mar. 9, 2013

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (3/9-10) The Cornerstone University 2013 Outdoor Track & Field season opened at the sunny Coastal Carolina University Invitational in Myrtle Beach, SC. After a week of practice and oceanfront relaxation, the Golden Eagles put up two national qualifying marks.

After earning All-America honors in the 60 meter hurdles at the NAIA Indoor National Championships one week earlier, Anita Souza ran her way to outdoor nationals in the 100 meter hurdles. The sophomore from Brazil took sixth running 14.58, well under the automatic qualifying mark of 14.90.  Brittany Green took fourteenth in 15.57. Green also took third in the long jump with a mark of 17' 9"

In other sprint action, Souza placed fifteenth in the 200 meters at 25.56 and Larissa Hampton ran 59.74 to finish 18th in the 400 meters .  Lindsay Lipa, Souza, Hampton the Katie Walker combined for fourth in the 4 x 100 meter relay with a time of 48.73. Kaitlyn Bronkema and Lyndee Sayers joined Lipa and Hampton to run 4:01.93 for eighth in the 4 x 400 meter relay.

In the 3,000 meter steeplechase, Jill Louisignau and Amber Thompson of Mount Olive College repeated their duel from 2012. Last year, Thompson set the pace and Louisignau won with a great kick. In the 2013 rematch, Jill took the early lead, with the goal of running 11:10 for the seven and one half laps. Thompson sat back and reversed the outcome having the better finish, winning in 11:15.83. Louisignau came within one second of her school record, taking second in 11:19.74, bettering the NAIA automatic standard of 11:25.00. Liz Baller was sixth in 12:17.41.

On Friday, Louisignau, Audrey Tremaine, Tanner Hostetler and Julia Contreras battled 20 mile an hour winds on their way to third in the 4 x 800 meter relay in 9:51.15.  Saturday, with the wind reduced to a breeze, Contreras took third in her heat of the 1500 meters running 4:56.32. Tremaine used a 74 second last lap to take fourth in her heat, clocking 5:02.90 in her 1500 meter debut. Freshmen Trinity Hulst and Hostetler took second and third in their heat of the 800 meters with Hulst running 2:23.37 and Hostetler 2:24.83.

The Golden Eagles will take a break with the next meet scheduled for March 30-31 at Houseman Field in Grand Rapids.