Backed by a program record, several regional qualifiers, and a dominant showing across the jumps and distance events, the St. Lawrence University women's track and field team secured a first-place finish at the SLU Open on Friday.

"We took advantage of a great opportunity to compete at home today for conference tune-up weekend," said Saints head coach Kate Howard. "We were able to hone in on one or two specific events for each team member for today's competition and we're walking away with numerous personal bests as well as Liberty League and AARTFC qualifying marks. We've got excellent momentum as we turn our full attention to the Liberty League Championship next weekend."

The Saints utilized their home-field advantage to rack up points across the board, highlighted by a historic sprint performance. First-year Ella Baker made her mark on the sprinting record books for the third time, setting yet another program record in the 60-meter dash finals. This came with a time of 7.86, beating her previous record of 7.89 from earlier in the campaign.

On the hurdles side, Amelia Berthold found the podium with a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles, crossing the line in a personal-best 9.70 seconds. Ava Machado also contributed significant points in the sprints, taking fourth in the 200-meter dash with a PR of 27.52.

The Saints' distance crew came up big, vaulting themselves up to fifth in the AARTFC rankings and 27^th nationally in the distance medley relay. The team of Madison Beaudoin, Margaret McNally, Addison Ash, and Avery Blanchard cruised to a first-place finish with a time of 12:40.46.

In the 3000-meter run, Ellie Riley led a 1-2 St. Lawrence finish, taking the crown with a personal-best 11:31.60, followed closely by teammate Paige Poirier in second at 11:47.49.

St. Lawrence was untouchable in the triple jump, sweeping the top three spots on the leaderboard. Cecilia Ballard led the charge with a first-place leap of a personal-best 10.19 meters, followed by Eva Gaetano in second at 9.93 meters and Emma Brosell in third (9.92m).

Ballard continued her busy day in the high jump, taking second with a PR of 1.55 meters, trailing only teammate Amelia Berthold, who took first with a matching 1.55-meter PR based on jumps. Ballard also added a fifth-place finish in the long jump with a career-best 4.64 meters, while Isla Bougard Duncan took third in the event (4.72m).

In the throwing circle, Kaitlyn Putman earned a podium spot with a third-place toss in the shot put, marking a new personal best of 10.84 meters. Lola Buckley followed in fourth with a mark of 10.06 meters to round out the scoring for the Saints.

The Saints will look to carry this momentum into the postseason as they prepare for the Liberty League Championships.