The Waynesburg women’s indoor track and field teams traveled to Granville, Ohio on Saturday to compete in the annual Bob Shannon Invitational hosted by Denison University. 

Waynesburg took the top two spots in the Women’s 5000 meter run with a time of 20:18.77 run by sophomore Grace Tanksley and senior Gabi Reifsnyder with a time of 20:19.45. 

Senior Gabi Reifsnyder says that she hopes that she can be someone for underclassmen distance runners to look up to. 

“I really do hope I can always be someone the underclassman distance runners can look up to,” Reifsnyder said. 

“I had such a positive group of girls before me that made such a big impact on not only my time running at WU but just in myself as a person as well.” 

Sophomore Lilly Ryer, who placed 14th in the one mile run and 22nd place in the 800 meter run says that she plans out goals for each of the races she competes in. 

“Before a race, I mentally prepare by praying because it helps me set my mindset to use my gifts of running for God’s glory instead of my own,” Ryer said. “I go into each race with goals in mind, so I try to plan out how I am going to run each lap so I can hit those goals.”

Freshman Rebekah Miller threw a 10.69-meter throw in the shot put, putting her in seventh place in the competition, and junior Megan Barry threw for 8.89 meters in the shot put and had a jump of 3.44-meters in the long jump. 

The Yellow Jackets finished the day in eighth place with 22 points.

Reifsnyder says that she isn’t competing in the OWU Open but is excited for your teammates and how they perform. 

“I’m super excited to see how everyone performs,” Reifsnyder said. “I think everyone is putting a great effort in and it will be exciting to see all the hard work pay off in the next few meets!” 

The track and field teams will travel to Delaware, Ohio this Saturday to Ohio Wesleyan University to compete in the OWU Open.