Bozin, Karhoff take first place at Drakes
In the largest event of the season, the women’s track and field team had several high placings over the weekend.
Once again, senior high jumper Suzy Bozin led the way at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, which was not a team-scored event. The LIFE women’s athlete of the year finished fourth with a jump of 5-feet-8-inches.
“The conditions of the meet were pretty awful. I think the weather really had an effect on our performance. But the experience of competing at Drake is always a special one,” said Head Coach Kathleen Raske.
More than 8,700 athletes competed at Drake, including 33 NCAA national champions.
Senior Kari Karhoff finished fifth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:00.22.
Taking home seventh place finishes were Brook Creed in the 5,000-meters and the 3,200-meter relay team. The relay team consisted of Erin Miner, Emili Karry, Kristen Podein and Creed.
Some of the athletes who didn’t go to Drake competed at Hillsdale in a small meet.
The team will host the Central Collegiate Invite on Friday. It will be the first outdoor home meet of the season.
“We have three weeks of work to do before we’re ready for our goal of winning the MAC title. We basically need to refocus on track and field after this week and remove all distractions,” Raske said.
Bozin, senior heptathlete Maria Derezinski and sophomore pole vaulter Amanda Storck also have provisionally qualified for nationals. The meet will take place at Louisiana State on May 28.
