Marissa Krynak

Emily Gordon won the 1,500m race and finished second in the 800m run.

Women's Track & Field 3/31/2024 7:15:00 AM Jeff Weiss, Senior Associate Director of Athletics/Media Relations

Women's Outdoor Track and Field Begins Season at Cedarville's Yellow Jacket Open

CEDARVILLE, Ohio -- Thirty-eight (38) members of the Wayne State University women's outdoor track and field squad started their season by competing in the Cedarville Yellow Jacket Open on Saturday. The Warriors won the team title with 206 points.

WSU had two event winners - Emily Gordon in the 1,500m and Reagan Justice in the 5K - plus nine runner-up finishes and eight third-place finishes.

QUOTING COACH LOFDAHL
"The weather and the competition in early-season track meets in the Midwest are always hit-or-miss, so we just wanted to control what we could control, which is our attitude and effort. The team did a great job of that and we were fortunate to have some pretty nice weather and solid competition for our opener."

"In the field events, the wind was one element that did not necessarily cooperate, but we had some nice performances. Peyton Hansen led the way in the throws with a nice PR in her javelin debut as a Warrior. Nicole Warren set a PR in triple jump and also performed well in long jump, and Mikayla Williams did well in high jump and triple.

"It was great to have Emily Gordon back after a redshirt indoor season, and got all of the rust out with a 1500m win and a runner-up run in the 800. Reagan Justice had a solid day as well with a 1500 PR and a win in the 5K. Our steeplechasers looked strong right off the bat, with Thailyia Christensen hitting an NCAA mark and Katherine Ray setting a PR with one of her best races yet.

"Our sprinters highlighted the day for us, with three sub-50 second 4x100 relay squads to kick things off. Hanne Bastiaansen crushed all of her races, with a 12.15 in the 100 and a sub-25 clocking in the 200. Sasha-Gay Thompson ran very well in those two races as well, along with Rachel Overgaard and Iyana Coates who all set multiple PRs. One the hurdle side, Keneisha Thomas ran well in the 100 and Elyse Miller had a very good debut in the 400, with Kenzie Wellner running well in both events. We had seven runners under 12.90 in the 100 and 10 under 27.0 in the 200 in our first outdoor meet, which are very impressive numbers for the sprint squad.

"The main goal wasn't to win a meet, it was to start our outdoor season well and compete to the best of our ability. The team certainly did those things, and we got a nice bonus of scoring over 200 points, which really showcases our depth. We will aim for continued improvement as we make the short trip to Oakland next Saturday.

Final Team Standings
1) Wayne State 206
2) Cedarville 141
3) Bellarmine 84
4) Wittenberg 83
5) Cleveland St. 78
6) Wright State 52.5
7) Adrian 27
8) Shawnee State 24.5
9) Goshen 14
10) Wilmington (Ohio) 11
10) Rio Grande 11
12) Ohio Dominican 8
12) Ohio Christian 8
14) Alice Lloyd 1

Javelin
Junior Peyton Hansen (Freeland, Mich.), 2nd, 29.66m [9th all-time at WSU]

Hammer
Graduate student Kaleigh Flowers (Grand Rapids, Mich. / East Kentwood), 6th, 40.58m
Freshman Makayla Stewart (Novi, Mich.), 20th, 29.76m

Long Jump
Freshman Nicole Warren (Saline, Mich.), 4th, 5.27m [T-7th all-time at WSU]
Sophomore Idalia Shadhaya (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. / Sterling Heights), 17th, 4.64m
Redshirt senior Morgan Witzgall (Auburn, Mich. / Bay City Western), 24th, 3.36m
Sophomore Annabelle Smith (Blissfield, Mich.), Foul

Discus
Flowers, 8th, 36.38m
Stewart, 19th, 30.26m
Hansen, 25th, 24.64m

High Jump
Redshirt senior Mikayla Williams (St. Charles, Mich.), 3rd, 1.53m
Freshman Nevaeh Branson (Mason, Mich.), T-6th, 1.48m [T-10th all-time at WSU]
Freshman Gracie Klink (Capac, Mich.), T-6th, 1.48m [T-10th all-time at WSU]

Shot Put
Stewart, 18th, 10.13m
Flowers, Foul

Triple Jump
Williams, 2nd, 10.94m
Warren, 7th, 10.21m [9th all-time at WSU]
Witzgall, 8th, 9.99m

10,000m Run
Junior Mattie Drennan (Clarkston, Mich.), 2nd, 39:44.25
Junior Natalie Davies (Chelsea, Mich.), 5th, 44:47.01

Steeplechase
Redshirt senior Thailyia Christensen (Flushing, Mich.), 2nd, 11:00.13 [NCAA PROVISIONAL MARK - third straight year with a provisional time]
Redshirt senior Katherine Ray (Novi, Mich.), 3rd, 11:15.64 [4th all-time at WSU]
Junior Robin Bresolin (LaSalle, Ont. / St. Thomas of Villanova), 7th, 11:59.86
Sophomore Sarah Greb (Washington, Mich. / Romeo), 9th, 12:29.93

1,500m Run
Junior Emily Gordon (Northville, Mich.), 1st, 4:48.87
Junior Reagan Justice (Canton, Mich. / Salem), 3rd, 4:50.77
Sophomore Rachel Felstow (Leonard, Mich. / Romeo), 7th, 4:59.61
Sophomore Aubrey Migoski (Wyandotte, Mich. / Roosevelt), 8th, 4:59.64
Graduate student Emily Esker (Livonia, Mich. / Franklin), 15th, 5:09.52
Junior Annalee Misch (Macomb, Mich. / Utica Eisenhower), 22nd, 5:20.97
Junior Layla Martini (Casnovia, Mich. / Kent City), 23rd, 5:21.17

100m Hurdles
Redshirt freshman Keneisha Thomas (Madison Heights, Mich. / Lamphere), 4th, 15.90
Junior Makenzie Wellner (Menominee, Mich.), 5th, 15.91
Redshirt sophomore Richelle Cotter (Mt. Morris, Mich. / Flint Carman-Ainsworth), 7th, 16.20
Shadhaya, 12th, 17.03

400m Dash
Sophomore Avery Wilson (Davison, Mich.), 2nd, 57.90
Junior Renae Kutcha (Jackson, Mich. / Lumen Christi), 3rd, 58.52
Freshman Tianna Bennett (Howell, Mich.), 19th, 1:04.06

100m Dash
Sophomore Hanne Bastiaansen (Tessenderlo, Belgium), 2nd, 12.15 [4th all-time at WSU]
Freshman Sasha-Gay Thompson (Plymouth/Shantamee, Jamaica), 3rd, 12.22 [5th all-time at WSU]
Senior Mikaela Owen (Bridgman, Mich.), 5th, 12.43 [9th all-time at WSU]
Freshman Rachel Overgaard (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Ann Arbor Huron), 8th, 12.50 [10th all-time at WSU]
Freshman Danielle Modock (Sterling Heights, Mich. / Macomb Dakota), 9th, 12.56
Sophomore Emmanuela Johnson (Clinton Township, Mich. / Chippewa Valley), 14th, 12.72
Sophomore Iyana Coates (East Lansing, Mich.), 19th, 12.88

800m Run
Gordon, 2nd, 2:22.49
Freshman Meagan Verellen (Shelby Township, Mich. / Utica), 16th, 2:39.55

400m Hurdles
Sophomore Elyse Miller (Woodhaven, Mich. / Gibraltar Carlson), 2nd, 1:07.47 [10th all-time at WSU]
Wellner, 3rd, 1:07.77
Thomas, 5th, 1:09.42

200m Dash
Bastiaansen, 3rd, 24.87 [4th all-time at WSU]
Thompson, 5th, 25.32 [6th all-time at WSU]
Overgaard, 6th, 25.36 [T-8th all-time at WSU]
Owen, 8th, 25.68
Smith, 9th, 25.76
Johnson, 10th, 25.91
Bennett, 14th, 26.10
Modock, 21st, 26.48
Coates, 22nd, 26.53
Cotter, 29th, 26.81
Shadhaya, 49th, 29.30

5,000m Run
Justice, 1st, 17:58.30
Migoski, 7th, 19:38.27
Misch, 9th, 19:56.75

4x100m Relay
A-Thompson, Owen, Bastiaansen, Wilson - 2nd, 47.75 [7th all-time at WSU]
B-Miller, Overgaard, Johnson, Smith - 3rd, 48.62
C-Modock, Bennett, Kutcha, Coates - 5th, 49.61

UP NEXT
WSU will compete at the Oakland Golden Grizzlies Invitational on Saturday, April 6th.

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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

Robin Bresolin: Mid-Distance; 5' 3"; Junior; 3-Indoor/3-Outdoor

Thailyia Christensen: Mid-Distance; 5' 3"; Redshirt Senior; 5-Indoor/4-Outdoor

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

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

Natalie Davies: Distance; 5' 6"; Junior; 2-Indoor/2-Outdoor

Mattie Drennan: Distance; 5' 6"; Junior; 3-Indoor/3-Outdoor

Emily Esker: Mid-Distance; 5' 6"; Graduate Student; 4-Indoor/4-Outdoor

Rachel Felstow: Mid-Distance; 5' 8"; Sophomore; 2-Indoor/2-Outdoor

Players Mentioned

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

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

Robin Bresolin
: 5' 3"; Junior; 3-Indoor/3-Outdoor
: Mid-Distance

Thailyia Christensen
: 5' 3"; Redshirt Senior; 5-Indoor/4-Outdoor
: Mid-Distance

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

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

Natalie Davies
: 5' 6"; Junior; 2-Indoor/2-Outdoor
: Distance

Mattie Drennan
: 5' 6"; Junior; 3-Indoor/3-Outdoor
: Distance

Emily Esker
: 5' 6"; Graduate Student; 4-Indoor/4-Outdoor
: Mid-Distance

Rachel Felstow
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; 2-Indoor/2-Outdoor
: Mid-Distance