JOLIET, Ill. ---- Claiming the second-most individual titles at the 2023 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Outdoor Track & Field Championships over the weekend at Joliet Memorial Stadium, University of St. Francis earned a fourth-place finish among eight schools competing at the meet with its 124 total points.

Olivet Nazarene University captured its seventh consecutive title with a total of 280 points, followed by Saint Xavier University with 174.5 and then St. Ambrose University with 139.

Of the 19 individual champions crowned, four established new league marks including the Fighting Saints' Katherine Bakken.  She eclipsed the previous record in the 5,000-meter race by nearly five seconds with her time of 17:45.97.

USF's other individual winners were Mara Bruno in the long jump (18 feet, 1.5 inches), Allison Ramsey in the 1,500-meter race (4:44.06) and Ana Mendoza Pineda in the 800 (2:18.38).  Bruno also earned the most points for the Saints with her 22, not to mention teaming up with Shyasia Baker, Emerson Colins and Gianna Trenter for another eight points with their runner-up finish in the 4x100-meter relay race (48.25 seconds).

Bruno, who placed third in both the 100- (11.92 seconds) and 200-meter dashes (25.5), was one of six members of the St. Francis team to score in multiple events.  The others were Ramsey, Pineda, Colins, Trenter and Kaylee Holt.

Besides her first-place finish in the 800, Pineda also gained runner-up honors in the 1,500 (4:47.92).  Ramsey was nearly the exact opposite, matching her 1,500-meter title with a third-place showing in the 800 (2:21.18).  

Colins totaled 11 points by placing third in the 100-meter hurdles (15.8 seconds) and fourth in the 100-meter dash (12.25), Trenter netted eight points with her fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (1:10.86) and sixth-place mark in the 100-meter hurdles (16 seconds) and Holt put up six points by placing sixth in both the discus (121 feet, 10 inches) and hammer throw (136 feet).

USF earned its most points in the 1,500-meter race, where the top five finishers donned the brown & gold.  Besides Ramsey and Pineda, next in line were Olivia Bukowski (4:52.48), Bailey Wilk (4:54.66) and Alexia Bibakis (4:58.73).

Other scorers were Kelsey Rice and Tiffany Lehmann with their respective sixth (19:56.79) and eighth-place efforts (21:12.91) in the 5,000-meter race and the third-place 4x100-meter relay team of Ariadna Juarez, Claire Roberts, Liliana Ordonez and Annet Juarez, which finished in 10:10.41.

Earning all-conference status by finishing in the top three in an event were Bruno, Ramsey, Pineda, Bukowski, Colins, Bakken, Ariadna Juarez, Roberts, Ordonez, Annet Juarez, Baker and Trenter.

Up next for the program is USF's own Fighting Chance Meet next Friday and Saturday at Joliet Memorial Stadium.   

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