Stephanie Pierce and Alyssa Christian both earned new personal bests in the 1500m with times of 4:29.27 and 4:32.59, respectively. Emily McKenzie also earned an impressive PR in the triple jump, with a jump of 11.26 meters. The Bobcats also had some stellar finishes in other races, particularly with freshman Sarah Liederbach snatching the win in the second heat of the 5000-meter race with her time of 18:11.80. Additionally, Pierce was far from finished after her PR, placing in the top three of the second heat of the 800-meter race.
The Indiana Invitational occurred that same weekend, with a notable performance from Hailey Bowes, who placed fourth in the 10000-meter. The final meet before the MAC Championships took place in Nashville, Tennessee. The Bobcats earned another slew of top ten finishes, with a particularly spectacular performance from Carina Weaver. Weaver shaved nine seconds off her time in the 3000-meter steeplechase, a notoriously difficult event. She placed fourth and earned a PR of 11:09.61.
The MAC Championships were next, and the Bobcats did not hold back. Weaver earned yet another PR in the 3000-meter steeplechase, knocking seven seconds off the one she set just weeks before and landing her a seventh-place All-MAC finish. Jessie Hartman pushed herself to a new personal best in the 10000m, shaving an incredible 30 seconds off her previous time. Pierce was the only athlete in the entire tournament to place on the podium in both the 1500-meter race and the 800-meter race, finishing sixth and seventh in the two events. Autumn Mohan was a PR machine at the championships, placing 10th in the shot put with a PR of 13.88m and 7th in the discus with a season best of 45.87 meters.
The Bobcats will not have any athletes advancing to the NCAA championship preliminary meets. Still, their season, with their consistent improvement and constant PR’s, proved that they are a strong team with the potential to send athletes to these championship meets.