Women's Track & Field | January 18, 2020
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Western Michigan track and field team wrapped up its first official meet of the indoor season, competing at the Youngstown State Invitational on Friday.
The best individual performance on the day came from senior sprinter Erin Dowd. Dowd took first overall in the 400-meter dash, dusting the competition with a time of 54.74. The time was an indoor personal best for the Brighton, Mich., native.
WMU's 4x400-meter relay team also took first place with the combined time of 3:53.06, 2.02 seconds faster than second-place Buffalo.
Senior Juliane Sormain took fifth overall in the 800-mter run after turning in a time of 2:14.76. She was one of three racers to finish in the 2:14 range, just missing out on third and fourth place.
Sophomore Taylor Rucker too sixth overall in the 60-meter hurdles after running a time of 9.33 seconds.
Freshman Annalise James was the team's top finisher in the mile run, taking eighth overall with a time of 5:10.57. Senior Brittney Hall also competed in the event, running a time of 5:16.84.
Four Broncos competed in the 3,000-meter run with Rebecca McNamee turning in the top time of 10:47.28. Sophomore Paisley Sipes finished a few spots behind her with a time of 10:55.38.
Over in the field events the top performance came from senior Erica Sheahan in the long jump. Sheahan took third overall with a distance of 18-8.00 (5.69m). Sheahan reached the mark on her fifth jump.
Junior Taylor Eaton took eighth overall in the weight throw, reaching a distance of 53-7.50 (16.34m). Eaton's performance improved by over three feet compared to her season-opener in 2019 at the Gladstein Invitational. Junior Aniya Davis and sophomore Madison Ochs also both competed in the weight throw, with both eclipsing the 50-foot mark.
Junior Tierre Richardson reached a distance of 35-7.25 (10.85m) in the triple jump, finishing 10th overall, while junior Audrey Pickering was WMU's top finisher in the shot put with a distance of 41-10.75 (12.77m).
The indoor season rolls on as Western Michigan heads to Eastern Michigan University next Saturday for the Can Am International.
