DE PERE, Wis. – After the opening day of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Outdoor Championships, the Concordia University Wisconsin women's track and field team sits in second place with 46 points. Host St. Norbert College leads the standings with 91 points.
The Falcons earned 18 points in the distance events, 20 in the jumps, and eight from the throws.
A standout moment came in the 10,000-meter run, where CUW claimed both the gold and silver. Junior Ainara Sainz de Rozas (Madrid, Spain) surged ahead late to take first with a time of 40:52.72. Right behind her was sophomore Emma Ahrens (Stephens City, Va.), who clocked in at 41:10.65 after running stride-for-stride with her teammate for much of the race. The duo combined for all 18 distance points.
CUW's strong tradition in the pole vault continued outdoors as it did indoors, producing 13 total points. Junior Kate Kotula (Wyomissing, Pa.) took second by clearing 3.16 meters, while sophomore Caitlyn Weitzel (Fallston, Md.) finished fourth at the same height.
Senior Maya Hielscher (Macomb, Mich.) continued her success in the javelin, earning runner-up honors with a mark of 35.43 meters, contributing eight points.
In the triple jump, freshman Amiyah Jackson (Beaver Dam, Wis.) landed in third place with an impressive leap of 11.07 meters. Kotula also added a point with a 10.73-meter jump.
On the track, multiple Falcons advanced to Saturday's finals. In the 100-meter hurdles, Hielscher posted the second-fastest preliminary time at 15.18 seconds, while sophomore Emma Eilertson (Mukwonago, Wis.) grabbed the final qualifying spot in 16.64.
Sophomore Olivia Ebel (Mt. Clemens, Mich.) advanced in the 400-meter hurdles after taking second in her heat with a time of 1:08.46.
Freshman Jacey Read (Carbondale, Colo.) and senior Sabrina Moore (Park Ridge, Ill.) both advanced in the 100-meter dash. Read ran 12.64 seconds for third overall, while Moore placed sixth at 12.92. Read also advanced in the 200-meter dash, placing second overall in 26.17.
In the 800-meter run, juniors Danielle Van Grinsven (Appleton, Wis.) and Melanie Arvis (Berwyn, Ill.) both moved on to finals. Van Grinsven won her heat in 2:23.53, with Arvis close behind at 2:26.31.
With numerous athletes qualifying for final heats, the Falcons are poised to make a strong push up the standings on the final day of competition.
