Western Wayne Today

Select members of the Wayne State University women's outdoor track and field team participated in the Baldwin Wallace Harrison Dillard Twilight event in Berea, Ohio. The goal was to improve their marks for potential selection to the NCAA Championships later this month.

Two athletes recorded personal bests in the steeplechase, and two relay teams achieved top-three times in program history.

Redshirt senior Thailyia Christensen from Flushing, Michigan, improved her personal best by nearly 11 seconds with a time of 10:27.15. This performance places her 13th in NCAA Division 2 this year and second in school history. Her time is just under two seconds shy of Chelsea Johnson's school record set at the 2015 NCAA Championships.

Katherine Ray from Novi, Michigan, also set a personal best with a time of 10:37.28, ranking third in program history and 23rd this year in Division 2.

The 4x100m relay team consisting of Hanne Bastiaansen from Tessenderlo, Belgium; Sasha-Gay Thompson from Plymouth/Shantamee, Jamaica; Mikaela Owen from Bridgman, Michigan; and Avery Wilson from Davison, Michigan ran a meet record time of 46.90. This is the fastest time by a WSU group in eight years and ranks third in school history.

In the 4x400m relay, Wilson teamed up with Elyse Miller from Woodhaven, Michigan; Renae Kutcha from Jackson, Michigan; and Keneisha Thomas from Madison Heights, Michigan to post the third-fastest time in program history at 3:49.83.

Junior Emily Gordon placed fifth in the 800m run with a time of 2:12.90 while Annabelle Smith finished sixth in the long jump with a mark of 5.43m.

Bastiaansen also competed in the 200m dash finishing second with a time of 24.54 while Owen placed seventh at 25.46.

Mikayla Williams secured fifth place in the triple jump with an effort measuring at 11.06m.

The Warriors now await confirmation on May 14th regarding qualifications for the NCAA Championships scheduled for May 23-25 in Emporia, Kansas.