NMHU' s
Patreece Clarke took the 100m hurdle title while Cemore Donald and the 4x400 relay added medal finishes to cap off the RMAC track and field championships , Sunday in Chadron, NE.
Clarke , who entered the meet as the #2 ranked hurdler in the conference, ran a personal record 13.58 to take the hurdle crown by nearly half-a-second over UCCS's Missy Moreni. Clarke's time also moved her to #6 in the nation among DII hurdlers.
Just fifteen minutes later, Donald improved her season best in the 400M by nearly one-and-a-half seconds -- storming down the homestretch to place third in an NCAA qualifying time of 55.97.
The 4x400 squad of
Nadine Rose, Donald,
Beatrice Armijo and
Lucia Harrison chopped nearly seven seconds off their season best, racing to a 3:48.8 and outdueling Western State for second. Colorado Mines ran a new RMAC record of 3:44.7 to win the event.
"We gave it our best shot," said HU head coach
Bob DeVries, "I love the 4x4 and I'm very proud of how our women battled to try and win it."
Rose led off the relay and put the Cowgirls in the mix in fourth. She handed off to Donald, who electrified the crowd, running down the field with a stellar sub-55 second split. Armijo battled gamely and kept the Cowgirls in second before passing off to Harrison. The HU anchor was passed by the Western State squad, but fought back and made a strong move down the front stretch to hold off the Mountaineers.Â
"There's a reason Lucia anchors that relay. She embraces it. She's a fighter, " said DeVries. "Everyone on the relay raced amazing. Coach Russell made a great call changing up the order of our first three and it paid off."
Sunday's three medal performances . made it five for the weekend as Katy Scott (Hammer Throw) and
Chisom Obioha (Long Jump) both made the medal podium on Friday.
The Cowgirls also got important points from Rose (400), Armijo (400H) and the 4x100 relay of
Chisom Obioha, Harrison,
Abigail Serna and Irma Berkowitz, to cap off the championship scoring.
Armijo set a new personal record of 1:03.8 and Rose added another personal best of 56.9 as both runners took seventh in their event. The relay -- racing for the first time together -- also placed seventh after coming into the meet seeded tenth.
Faith Lovato , who came in ranked #20, placed 14th in the 5k to cap off a season that saw her become both the 3k and 5k school record holder.
UCCS swept both the men's and women's titles on Sunday while the Cowgirls placed seventh with 49 points.
"I always have a good idea what our team can score and these ladies exceeded my expectations. Everyone stepped up to the challenge of a championship meet," added DeVriesÂ
Complete scores and results:
