Marissa Krynak

Briana Vojinov posted an NCAA Provisional time in the 5K.

Women's Track & Field 12/1/2023 7:59:00 PM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Women's Track Begins Indoor Season At SVSU Holiday Open

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. -- The Wayne State University women's indoor track and field squad began its 2023-24 campaign on Friday at the SVSU Holiday Open.

Warriors recorded one NCAA Provisional mark (Vojinov in the 5K) and 12 marks that rank in the top-10 all-time at WSU highlighted by junior Renae Kutcha's fourth all-time mark in the 400m dash at 57.68.

QUOTING COACH LOFDAHL
"Certainly not everything went perfectly and there are things we need to fix, but as a whole this was a very strong season-opener for us. There were over 20 schools competing and while official team scores were not kept, unofficially we would have placed second behind a very strong Eastern Michigan squad.

"I think the biggest highlight for us was the 200-meter dash. We placed six runners in the top-10, led by Hanne Bastiaansen in third place and nice debuts from freshmen Rachel Overgaard and Danielle Modock. Our 4x400 runners picked up right where they left off last season, with our A squad taking a dominant win with redshirt freshman Keneisha Thomas on the anchor leg. The 5K was also a strong event for us, with Bri Vojinov picking up our first NCAA mark of the season and Katherine Ray hitting an all-time WSU top-10 time.

"Idalia Shadhaya kicked things off with a nice pentathlon PR to open the meet and the season. Our field event highlights included Annabelle Smith taking third in the long jump, Mikayla Williams second in triple jump, and Gracie Klink with a nice debut in the high jump. On the track, Sasha Thompson was another freshman with an impressive debut taking fourth in the 60 dash, and Renae Kutcha and Avery Wilson ran very well with quick fourth and fifth-place finishes in the 400.

"We only had about 60 percent of our team competing, so I am really excited to roll out the full squad in January. But Coach Miller's sprinters, jumpers, and hurdlers had a really impressive opener and we have a deep and talented team this year. We need to get a few key athletes back healthy and firing on all cylinders after the holiday break, and get our throwers and distance runners competing, and then we will be a complete team and a dangerous one."

Pentathlon
Sophomore Idalia Shadhaya (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. / Sterling Heights)
60m Hurdles, 10th, 9.86, 738 points
High Jump, 12th, 1.41m (4-07.50), 523 points
Shot Put, 11th, 8.37m (27-05.50), 423 points
Long Jump, 9th, 4.68m (15-04.25), 474 points
800m Run, 19th, 2:50.96, 454 points
Final - 11th, 2,612 points [Sixth All-Time at WSU]

60m Dash
Freshman Sasha-Gay Thompson (Plymouth/Shantamee, Jamaica), 4th, 7.85 [5th in prelims, 7.91] [Seventh All-Time at WSU]
Senior Mikaela Owen (Bridgman, Mich.), 7th, 8.02 [7th in prelims, 8.00]
Sophomore Annabelle Smith (Blissfield, Mich.), 10th, 7.90 [10th All-Time at WSU]
Sophomore Avery Wilson (Davison, Mich.), 12th, 7.98
Sophomore Elyse Miller (Woodhaven, Mich. / Gibraltar Carlson), 18th, 8.07
Freshman Rachel Overgaard (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Ann Arbor Huron), 20th, 8.08
Freshman Danielle Modock (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Macomb Dakota), 22nd, 8.10
Sophomore Hanne Bastiaansen (Tessenderlo, Belgium), 25th, 8.17
Redshirt freshman Keneisha Thomas (Madison Heights, Mich. / Lamphere), 26th, 8.17
Freshman Tianna Bennett (Howell, Mich.), 33rd, 8.32
Sophomore Iyana Coates (East Lansing, Mich.), 34th, 8.35
Unattached - Emmanuela Johnson, 28th, 8.19

200m Dash
Bastiaansen, 3rd, 25.45 [Fifth All-Time at WSU]
Overgaard, 6th, 25.92 [Ninth All-Time at WSU]
Thompson, 7th, 25.98
Owen, 8th, 26.08
Modock, 9th, 26.37
Smith, 10th, 26.40
Bennett, 12th, 26.76
Coates, 17th, 27.50
Redshirt sophomore Richelle Cotter (Mt. Morris, Mich. / Flint Carman-Ainsworth), 19th, 27.51
Unattached - Johnson, 13th, 26.90

400m Dash
Junior Renae Kutcha (Jackson, Mich. / Lumen Christi), 4th, 57.68 [Fourth All-Time at WSU]
Wilson, 5th, 58.46
Thomas, 8th, 1:00.66
Miller, 9th, 1:00.86
Junior Makenzie Wellner (Menominee, Mich.), 10th, 1:01.66

5,000m Run
Sophomore Briana Vojinov (Brownstown, Mich. / Woodhaven), 6th, 17:16.77 (NCAA Provisional) [Sixth All-Time at WSU]
Redshirt senior Katherine Ray (Novi, Mich.), 13th, 17:48.98 [10th All-Time at WSU]

60m Hurdles
Freshman Joanna Otoko (Bremen, Germany), 8th, 11.89 [8th in prelims, 9.20] [Eighth All-Time at WSU]
Cotter, 10th, 9.69
Wellner, 12th, 10.11

4x400m Relay
A -- Owen, Wilson, Kutcha, Thomas -- 1st, 3:59.53
B -- Overgaard, Bennett, Bastiaansen, Thompson -- 6th, 4:17.03

High Jump
Freshman Gracie Klink (Capac, Mich.), T-6th, 1.53m (5-00.25) [Sixth All-Time at WSU]
Freshman Nevaeh Branson (Mason, Mich.), T-10th, 1.48m (4-10.25) [T-10th All-Time at WSU]
Kutcha, T-10th, 1.48m (4-10.25)

Long Jump
Smith, 3rd, 5.30m (17-04.75)
Redshirt senior Mikayla Williams (St. Charles, Mich.), 7th, 5.18m (17-00.00)
Freshman Nicole Warren (Saline, Mich.), 9th, 4.95m (16-03.00)
Redshirt senior Morgan Witzgall (Auburn, Mich. / Bay City Western), Foul

Triple Jump
Williams, 2nd, 10.90m (35-09.25)
Witzgall, 6th, 9.91m (32-06.25)
Warren, 8th, 9.79m (32-01.50) [10th All-Time at WSU]
Branson, 12th, 9.38m (30-09.25)
Klink, Foul

UP NEXT: The WSU throwers will compete next Friday (Dec. 8th) at the GVSU Holiday Open.

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Players Mentioned

Hanne Bastiaansen: Sprints; 5' 5"; Sophomore; 2-Indoor/1-Outdoor

Nevaeh Branson: Jumps; 5' 5"; Freshman; 1-Indoor/1-Outdoor

Iyana Coates: Sprints; 5' 5"; Sophomore; 2-Indoor/1-Outdoor

Richelle Cotter: Multis; 5' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore; 2-Indoor/2-Outdoor

Emmanuela Johnson: Sprints; 5' 4"; Sophomore; 1-Indoor/2-Outdoor

Renae Kutcha: Sprints; 5' 8"; Junior; 3-Indoor/3-Outdoor

Elyse Miller: Sprints; 5' 9"; Sophomore; 2-Indoor/2-Outdoor

Danielle Modock: Sprints; 5' 2"; Freshman; 1-Indoor/1-Outdoor

Rachel Overgaard: Sprints; 5' 5"; Freshman; 1-Indoor/1-Outdoor

Mikaela Owen: Sprints; 5' 6"; Senior; 4-Indoor/3-Outdoor

Players Mentioned

Hanne Bastiaansen
: 5' 5"; Sophomore; 2-Indoor/1-Outdoor
: Sprints

Nevaeh Branson
: 5' 5"; Freshman; 1-Indoor/1-Outdoor
: Jumps

Iyana Coates
: 5' 5"; Sophomore; 2-Indoor/1-Outdoor
: Sprints

Richelle Cotter
: 5' 4"; Redshirt Sophomore; 2-Indoor/2-Outdoor
: Multis

Emmanuela Johnson
: 5' 4"; Sophomore; 1-Indoor/2-Outdoor
: Sprints

Renae Kutcha
: 5' 8"; Junior; 3-Indoor/3-Outdoor
: Sprints

Elyse Miller
: 5' 9"; Sophomore; 2-Indoor/2-Outdoor
: Sprints

Danielle Modock
: 5' 2"; Freshman; 1-Indoor/1-Outdoor
: Sprints

Rachel Overgaard
: 5' 5"; Freshman; 1-Indoor/1-Outdoor
: Sprints

Mikaela Owen
: 5' 6"; Senior; 4-Indoor/3-Outdoor
: Sprints