Seven Owls beat their previous best times at the Great Dane Classic in Staten Island, New York Dec. 16.
As a team the Owl tied with Coppin State University for ninth place with 22 points. The University of Maryland won the meet with 104 points.
“We set a lot of personal bests,” coach Elvis Forde said. “We have to keep increasing that every weekend and continue to get better performances.”
In the 400-meter race, junior sprinter Kenya Gaston finished eighth place out of 83 runners and scored three points with a time of 56 seconds, 55 milliseconds, setting a new personal record. She also raced in the 200-meter dash and missed scoring points by two milliseconds.
“The competition is getting tougher,” Forde said. “We have to dig in a little harder, compete a little harder, fight for every inch and every second we can get.”
In the 60-meter race, freshman sprinter and hurdler Sylvia Wilson finish in seventh, earning four points for the Owls. In her preliminary race, Wilson set a new personal record with a time of 8.60, beating out her previous best by 11 milliseconds.
“Every step, every improvement comes to something,” Forde said. “A second off your best time can act as a big confidence builder.”
The other freshman to score individually for the Owls was Crystal Jones, who finished in 10th place in the high jump, which added a point to Temple’s total score.
In the long jump, junior sprinter and jumper Jimmia McCluskey took seventh place, scoring five points for the Owls.
Other personal record for the team include junior distance runner Megan Schneider in the 3000-meter race, finishing in 36th place.
Junior hurdler Simone Brownlee beat her best time in the 60-meter hurdles to finish in 12th place in the event.
Temple had five runners compete in the 1000-meter run, including Maya Halprin-Adams, who led the way for the Owls with her 15th place finish. Freshman walk-on Brigit Andersson finished in 18th-place finish.
“Brigit ran very well,” Forde said. “She comes to practice everyday, works hard, and fights for every inch of the track.”
Maura Razanauskas can be reached at mauara.razanauskas@temple.edu
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