CARBONDALE, Ill. - Sophomore
Jenae Bothe highlighted the Washington University in St. Louis women's track and field opener at Southern Illinois University, Saturday, December 2. In total, WashU secured six top-10 marks in program history to begin the highly anticipated 2023-24 campaign. The Bears also hold several top-5 NCAA Division III marks.
WashU competed alongside Maryville University, University Missouri-St. Louis, Murray State University, Southern Illinois, and University Tennesse-Martin.
Top-10 program marks from the meet:
Bothe broke her own record in the shot put with her heave of 13.64m. Bothe bested her mark of 13.61m that she eclipsed a season ago.
Bothe also earned the seventh-best weight throw distance with a mark of 13.65m.
In her first collegiate meet, first-year
Maya Davis sits fourth in WashU's 60m dash record books. Davis crossed the finish line with a time of 7.76. Additionally, Davis ranks tied for 10th in the long jump with her leap of 5.39m.
Graduate student
Mikayla Wise ranks fifth in the weight throw as she posted a toss of 14.32m.
First-year
Olivia Theisen's high jump distance of 1.60m put her in a four-way tie for seventh in the WashU all-time top-10 record book.
In the Division III rankings, WashU owns four of the top five times in the 800m. Senior
Ally Sarussi (second in the meet), currently sits atop Division III with her mark of 2:14.84.
First-year
Caroline Echols (third in the meet), produced the second-fastest 800m time in NCAA Division III with her mark of 2:17.69. Graduate student
Danielle Schultz (fourth in the meet, time of 2:19.08) and junior
Izzy Gorton (fifth in the meet, time of 2:19.58), sit fourth and fifth in Division III, respectively.
Senior
Ebun Opata notched a pair of NCAA Division III top-five marks in yesterday's meet. Opata won the triple jump event with a distance of 11.94m. With the winning mark, Opata ranks second in all of Division III. Additionally, Opata checks in at third in Division III in the long jump. At the meet, Opata took a runner-up finish in the long jump as she posted a jump of 5.49m.
In the pole vault, WashU has a pair of Bears in the national top-5 rankings. Junior
Yasmin Ruff won the event at SIU with a vault of 3.60m. Ruff's winning vault puts her in second in all of Division III. Senior
Anna Curtis, who took fourth in the meet with a mark of 3.50m, checks in at fifth in Division III.
With Bothe's program-best weight throw heave of 13.64m, Bothe currently owns the third-best weight throw distance in NCAA Division III.
In the high jump, Theisen, who earned sixth at the meet, secured the fifth-best jump in NCAA Division III.
WashU's 4x400 relay team consisting of junior
Nicole Stewart, Sarussi, Echols, and Schultz turned in a time of 4:08.44, to secure a fourth-place finish.
Sophomore
Jasmine Wright grabbed fourth in the 60m dash with a time of 7.76 and earned a time of 7.75 in the semifinal round.
The Bears will return to action after the New Year as the program will travel to Terre Haute, Ind. to compete in Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's Friday Night Spikes Series Opener meet, Friday, January 12.
