MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Ave Maria Track and Field team kicked off the outdoor season Friday at the STU Under the Lights Meet. The Gyrenes had seven top three finishes and two outright wins against teams from the NAIA, NCAA Divisions I and II and even some professional athletes.
Molly From, fresh off a Sun Conference gold medal in the women's high jump in the indoor season, went head to head to head against two other athletes from Florida National and St. Thomas. From beat them both with a mark of 1.52 meters, which matched her winning height from Gainesville just a few weeks prior. It also ranks her second in the NAIA.
Samuel Paga had the other win for the Gyrenes, placing first in the men's 1500 meters. Paga finished with a time 3:58.17, beating second place by over a second. That time is also the fastest in the NAIA after the first week of the outdoor season.
The other top three finishes for Ave Maria was Carol Long placing second in the women's 800 meters, Emma Perrault placing third in the women's 400 hurdles, Lucia Zvonar placing third in the women's triple jump, Audrey Baker placing second in the women's discus throw and Paga placing second in the men's 800 meters.
Across the NAIA, the Gyrenes had quite a few top 10 ranks after the first meet. Baker, though finishing second in the meet in the discus throw, ranks number one in the NAIA. Long ranked second in the women's 800 meters and eighth in the 400 meters. Sofia Torres ranked second in the women's 1500 meters. Paga ranks third in the men's 800 meters to go along with his top ranking in the 1500 meters.
Zvonar ranked third in the women's triple jump and ninth in the women's javelin. Perrault ranked fifth in the women's 400 meters and seventh in the 800 meters. Claudia Wojciechowski ranked eighth in the women's 800 meters and 1500 meters. Ben Freeze ranked eighth in the men's 800 meters. Finally, Bryan Viera ranked eight in the men's 1500 meters.
The Gyrenes get almost a month to prepare for the next meet, back at St. Thomas in Miami Gardens. The meet is Friday, April 4.
