BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Western Michigan track and field squad completed the first day of the Gladstein Invitational, highlighted by Makayla Perez claiming first place in the one-mile run. The Broncos will compete again tomorrow morning beginning at 10:45 a.m. ET. 

Perez was a spark for WMU, as she secured the fifth fastest indoor mile time in Bronco history, crossing the finish line in a time of 4:52.34. Not far behind Perez was Katelyn Spooner, who earned sixth place with a time of 5:07.21. Maggie Raab was also strong in the event, collecting 17th place with a time of 5:17.19. 

Grace Johnson and Ahvon Mitchell had strong showings in the 60-meter hurdles. Johnson earned the fastest time in the prelims, but did not compete in the finals. Mitchell earned fifth in the prelims and third in the finals. Mitchell earned a finals time of 8.62, which ranks seventh in school history for indoor meets. 

There were two sections of the 3,000-meter run, one of which featured Annalise James. James captured fourth in her section by recording a time of 10:09.92. In the other section, Delaney Knoll finished 10th with a time of 10:38.63, while Ann Marie Jordan tok 14th with a time of 11:07.80. 

Over in the field events, Anichka Malachi continued her strong start to the season. She was able to grab third place in the triple jump, with a distance of 11.66 meters. In the weight throw, Tess Van Dyk led the way for WMU, as she finished 12th with a throw of 13.64 meters. Lily Kucharek was right behind her in 13th place after recording a throw of 13.50 meters. Kennedy Hagens finished 19th with a throw of 10.15 meters. 

FROM COACH CATALDO
"We had some solid performances today. Tess started us off well in the weight throw, which was followed by a solid performance from Anichka in the triple jump. I thought Ahvon managed herself very well in the 60 hurdle final. She definitely showed growth from last week. We ended the night on a high note getting both the first heat win in the mile (Katelyn Spooner) and the overall meet win the very next race. Mak came out against a very talented field and beat the 2022 MAC cross country champion, so I'm very excited about that. We'll look to carry this momentum into tomorrow." 

The Broncos will continue competition in Bloomington tomorrow morning. Tomorrow's events include:

Shot Put
Kennedy Hagens
Lane Hagens
Tess Van Dyk

Long Jump
Anichka Malachi

200-meter Dash
Claira Gilchrist
Ahvon Mitchell
Grace Johnson

600-meter Run
LaJeanee' Porter

800-meter Run
Lexie Allshouse
Madison Zarembski
Alayna Ostling

4x400 Relay
Ahvon Mitchell, Anichka Malachi, Claira Gilchrist and Grace Johnson