Sophomore Reese Dragovich set a personal best in the 800m in a meet at Tiffin University. Courtesy | David Beach

The women’s track and field team earned eight provisional qualifying marks across two meets April 14-15, one at Tiffin University and one at Bucknell University. 

Sophomore Reese Dragovich took first place in the 800m at Tiffin, running a personal best time of 2:10.70. 

“My focus was on trusting where Coach Thill has me training wise, and enjoying the gift of running which often helps me run better but is also far more enjoyable and life-giving than just focusing on hitting times,” Dragovich said. “I felt like I was able to do that this past weekend and it’s meets like that which cause me to continue falling in love with running. Two weeks ago, I ran a very poor race, so coming back and getting a personal best was great.”

Sophomore Reagan Dahlquist said she was impressed by Dragovich’s race.

“Reese Dragovich stood out to me at the meet last week,” Dahlquist said. “She had to wait all day to compete, which can be mentally and physically taxing, and then she ran a PR.”

Dahlquist took first in the high jump at Tiffin, clearing 1.64 meters.

“It would have been great to jump higher, but that’s not always controllable, so I don’t really wish I had done anything differently. I focused on controlling what I could and that’s all I can ask for from myself.”

In the 1,500m run, junior Gwynne Riley earned a provisional mark with a time of 4:30.36. In the 3,000m steeplechase, junior Meg Scheske took third with a time of 10:20.30. 

“It was so fun to be back doing steeple again,” Scheske said. “I’m very happy with it. I’m very pleased. I feel very at peace with everything because I wasn’t really sure how this season would open up for me. It opened up better than I could’ve expected. I feel very grateful for that good race and very excited for the rest of the season.”

Junior Natalie Martinson ran a 17:48.26 in the 5,000m, her first 5k finish under 18 minutes.

“She has been trying to break 18 minutes in the 5k for four years and she finally did it,” Scheske said. “She’s come really close a lot of times and I was so proud of her.”

Junior Eden Little took first in javelin, throwing 43.30m. In the 400m dash, freshman Francesca Frederici ran 58.42, breaking her personal record.

This weekend, the women will compete at the Al Owens Invitational at Grand Valley State University.