Mays Leads No. 22 Trojans at Midwest Classic
MARION, Ind. – On an afternoon full of top performances up and down the roster for the Taylor women's indoor track and field program, it was Abby Mays who led the way with top efforts in the 1,000 and 4x800-meter relay.
Mays finished just two seconds off pace of the Taylor program record with a time of 2:59.29 in the 1,000 to take the win and automatically qualify for NAIA Nationals in the event. Mays then teamed with Emily Johnson, Kaitlin Burden and Olivia Jeanette to hit the NAIA-A standard with a runner-up finish in the 4x800.
The strong showing continued with Taylor eventually posting wins in five of the 19 events and hitting seven qualifying marks.
Two of those marks came from Mollie Gamble and Audrey Brinkruff in the 5,000, with Gamble winning and Brinkruff taking second. Both runners collected A-standard times to automatically qualify for Indoor Nationals later in February.
Noel VanderWall and Ahna Neideck nearly mirrored that feat in the 3,000, with VanderWall winning and Neideck ending fourth, while both finished with A-standard times.
Ashley Hall and D'Arjha Davis scored the remaining two wins for the Trojans, as Hall won the 400 with a NAIA-B standard and Davis cruised to victory in the 200, with Hall placing third.
In addition to her win the 400 and third in the 200, Hall finished fourth in the 60, and Kiana Siefert posted top-three efforts in the long jump and 60-meter hurdles.
The No. 22-ranked Taylor women will now focus on the upcoming Crossroads League Championships, which are set for February 16 and 17.