LANCASTER, Pa. – Annalise Kauffman was a double winner on Saturday to headline a dozen top 10 finishes for the Franklin & Marshall women's indoor track & field team at the Blue & White Invitational. Saturday's meet marked the Diplomats last time hosting a regular season indoor meet this season. Nevertheless, F&M will return to the Alumni Sports & Fitness Center during the first weekend in March to host the Centennial Conference's indoor championship.
Kauffman began her stellar day in the mile as she won that event with a time of 5:23.87, which moved her up to the fourth-fastest individual in the College's record book. Jordyn Collie (5:42.91) added a sixth-place finish in that same event. Collie and Kauffman capped their day by running the final two legs of F&M's winning 4x400 meter relay which started with Bella Johnson and Lauren Dunnigan and ended with a time of 4:12.39. That mark is now the eighth-fastest in school history.
Dunnigan also excelled as an individual, with her best event on Saturday being a second-place finish in the 60 meter hurdles (9.28 seconds). The reigning conference rookie of the year additionally finished fourth in the triple jump (10.43 meters) and was ninth in the 200 meter dash (28.07 seconds). Prior to helping her team to gold in the 4x400 relay, Johnson's best individual performance came when she posted the second-fastest 500 meter time (43.70 seconds) in school history, earning a top five placement at Saturday's meet.
Tara Silverman nearly came away with another event title for the Diplomats, but still posted the fourth-best 5,000 meter time in school history (18:54.90) during a runner-up performance in that event. Other top 10 placements on the track included Emily Jones placing sixth in the 800 meters (2:31.25), Katie Scott taking seventh in the 3,000 meters (11:06.88), and Arek Giir finishing in ninth during the 400 meters (1:06.96).
Amanda Imhauser once again competed in numerous events, adding a top 10 placement in the field events as she claimed a sixth place in the long jump (4.76 meters). Hayden Adams was another standout performer in the field events as she just missed a personal best after clearing 2.73 meters in the pole vault.
The Diplomats have two more meets remaining on their indoor regular season slate as they travel to Susquehanna and Cornell during the next two weekends before hosting the Centennial Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships.
