Women's Track and Field Clocks Top Times at UTA Invitational
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran women's track and field team competed in the UTA Invitational Friday at UT Arlington Maverick Stadium at UT-Arlington amidst a field of predominantly NCAA Division-I teams.
The Texas Lutheran 4x100m relay team comprised of Taylor Norrell (Lake Jackson/Brazosport), Natalie Garcia (McAllen/McAllen), Leilani Lopez (San Antonio/St. Anthony Catholic), and Trinity Murdock (Katy/Paetow) finished second in the 4x100m relay with a time of 48.91 seconds - a time that now leads all of NCAA Division-III as of Friday night.
Murdock, the 2023 SCAC Champion in the 100m dash, also finished seventh in the 100m dash with a time of 12.39 seconds. The time ranks in a tie for second in all of NCAA Division-III in 2024.
Taylor Norrell finished sixth in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.03 seconds.
In a matchup against the UT-Dallas 4x400m relay team, the TLU 4x400m relay team comprised of Kamilah Tanner (Killeen/Robert M. Shoemaker), Natalie Garcia, Ja'Keia Williams (La Grange/La Grange), and Katie Kostelnik (Hallettsville/Sacred Heart Catholic) won the 4x400m relay with a time 4:15.33.
Gianna Kennedy (El Paso/El Paso) finished fifth in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 12:57.26, moving her into the top 20 nationally.
Ashlynn Recknagel (La Vernia/La Vernia) finished third in the pole vault with a mark of 3.19m (10'6").
Freshman Briley Rother (Hallettsville/Hallettsville) finished sixth in the long jump with a mark of 4.96m (16' 3.25") while Katelyn Brown finished sixth in the high jump with a mark of 1.42m (4' 7.75").
In throws, Julissa Rodriguez (Deer Park/Deer Park) finished second in the shot put with a mark of 11.46m (37' 7.25") while freshman Deserae Charles (Natchitoches, LA /Forney) finished third with a mark of 11.40m. Both Rodriguez's (9th) and Charles's (11th) marks rank in the top 15 in Division-III.
Alexa Martin (Ingleside/Ingleside) finished sixth in the javelin throw with a mark of 29.98m.
Full Results: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/84074/UTA_invitational
Coach McCown's Comments: "We battled weather and tough competition and handled both very well. We had multiple events with top 5 finishes against D1 and D2 schools. So proud of the focus of this team. We look forward to competing at home in 2 weeks. Go Dogs!"
Texas Lutheran will enjoy their Spring Break before returning to action on March 23 for their lone home meet, the 2024 D3 Challenge, at Bulldog Stadium. For all updates on Texas Lutheran Track and Field, follow @tluthrows and @tluxctf on Instagram as well as as all official TLU Athletics accounts. All schedule updates can be found on tlubulldogs.com.