Over the weekend, Waynesburg University women’s track & field team traveled to Muskingum University to compete in the Muskie Duals.

The Yellow Jackets performed well despite poor weather conditions and a small number of competitors.

Head coach Michelle Cross was still pleased with her team’s performance even though the conditions were not ideal.

“This meet is a little bit of a smaller field,” said Cross. “But it’s very good talented competition and they did really well even despite the cold.”

In the sprints, junior Cassidy Guiser was able to complete a three-event sweep. Guiser won the 200-meter in 28 seconds, the 400-meter in 1:03 and she was a part of the Jackets winning 4×400-meter relay team which finished with a time of 4.24.

Cross was aware that sprinters do not always perform well in the cold for fear of injury but was proud to see Guiser compete hard.

“[Guiser] ran a really nice 400 and a really nice 200,” said Cross. “When it’s cold they always have it the back of their mind ‘like am I going to pull hamstring’ so it’s always good to see someone take the type of attitude and go after it.”

In other sprint events, senior Marla Holland won the 100-meter with a time of 13.92, while freshman Katherine Fair won the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles respectively.

Staying on the track, senior Angie Marchetti placed second in both the 800-meters and the 1500-meter races. Marchetti’s races stood out to Cross because she ran very similar to the way she did during the winter.

“I thought [Marchetti] did a really nice job,” said Cross. “She basically hit almost exactly what she was running in indoor in both of her events and she competed really well.”

Freshman Amber Yauch also had a productive day in the jumps. She took first in the triple jump with her top jump measuring 10.11 meters (33-2). She also placed second in long jump with a measure of 4.64 (15-2.75).

Yauch was a standout on the women’s team during the indoor season and has made a smooth change from high school to college.

“Honestly, I thought it was going to be a lot harder than it is,” said Yauch. “I really like it and I think I transitioned really well.”

Sprints and jumps were not the only events where the Yellow Jackets excelled however, as sophomores Jordan Simpson and Carli Polczynski paced the team in throws.

The duo placed third and fourth respectively in javelin, while Simpson placed third in shotput as well.

Simpson’s top toss sailed for 10.73 meters and was good enough to put her in the top spot on the PAC performance list.

While most of the Yellow Jackets performed well in the cold, there are always athletes that have issues or got hurt due to the weather.

Junior Teghan Simonton was pulled from the 5,000-meter run for complications with her back.

“[Simonton’s] back will sometimes pop out of place,” said Cross. “I’ve noticed it tends to be worse in cold weather, if she’s in practice we can have her stop and stretch out, but in a meet, she didn’t have that option. So, we just decided to pull her.”

Looking forward to the next meet, the Yellow Jackets are back in action Saturday, March 24, to compete in the Carnegie Mellon Invitational.