Allendale, Mich. – Fifth-year senior
Lexi Clarke (Plainfield, Ill./Joliet JC/Plainfield South) broke her own school record in the 600m, posting the second-fastest time in the NAIA this season, after she took first place with a time of 1:32.36 to hit the NAIA 'A' Standard for the No. 6 ranked Saint Xavier University women's track & field team at the Big Meet Invite hosted by Grand Valley State University (Mich.) Friday afternoon on day one of the two-day meet in Allendale, Mich. Clarke bested her previous record, 1:32.79, set earlier this season at the St. Ambrose University (Iowa) Finals Week Invitational on December 12. The Cougars brought a limited roster to the meet and no team scores were recorded.
Friday:
- Senior Emerson Colins (New Lenox, Ill./St. Francis/Lincoln-Way West) ran the seventh-fastest time in program history in the 60m Dash at 7.79 seconds, her third-quickest mark of the season.
- Colins also competed in the 200m, coming away with a time of 25.61 seconds. Junior Amaya Rique (St. Louis, Mo./Mineral Area/Seckman) clocked in with her third-best career time at 26.26 seconds.
- Also running in the 600m, senior Yanira Deana Paninka (Canary Island, Spain/Central Methodist/IES Jandia) recorded her third-fastest career time, and the fifth-best all-time for SXU, hitting the NAIA 'B' Standard with her third-place time of 1:35.10. Rique set a new personal record (PR), besting her previous mark by nearly four seconds to finish seventh overall at 1:37.27.
Saturday:
- In the 400m, Deana Paninka ran the second-fastest time in school history, setting a new PR by over a second at 58.29 seconds to place ninth. Rique logged the fourth-quickest time all-time for Saint Xavier at 59.68 seconds. Colins clocked in at 1:00.67, her second-best career time.
- Junior Rashiya Warfield (Lansing, Ill./T.F. South) broke the team record in the 60m Hurdles, topping the previous mark by 2/100th of a second at 9.16 seconds after her ninth-place draw.
- Sophomore Sophia Thomas (Highland, Ill./Highland) came away with her fourth-best distance in the Long Jump this season at 4.90m. Warfield registered a mark of 4.53m.
- Sophomore Mariah James (Alsip, Ill./Shepard) competed in the Weight Throw, posting a mark of 13.02m.
No. 6 Saint Xavier competes in the two-day Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Championships beginning on Friday, February 20 hosted by Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) in Bourbonnais, Ill.
