The Gustavus women’s indoor track and field team racked up 88 points to finish fourth at the Ted Nelson Classic Saturday hosted by Minnesota State Mankato. Funto Okanla (So., St. Paul, Minn.) and Kourtney Joyce (Sr., Wadena, Minn.) picked up first place finishes in the 60 meter dash and 5000 meter run, respectively.
Okanla led a contingent of three Gusties in the final of the 60 meter dash. Okanla’s time of 8.22 seconds (8.21 in prelims) edged teammate Blythe Bittman at the line. Bittman clocked a time of 8.23 seconds, while junior Kelsey Becker (Lakeville, Minn.) finished fifth with a time of 8.33 seconds (8.29 in prelims).
Joyce’s NCAA provisional qualifying time of 17:42.56 in the 5K bettered the rest of the field by nearly 40 seconds.
Ashley Cronen (Sr., Kandiyohi, Minn.) and Carlie Hanson (Jr., Buffalo, Minn.) each picked up runner-up finishes for the Gusties. Cronen sprinted to a 1:00.47 clocking in the 400 meter dash, while Hanson finished second in the 500 meter dash in a time of 1:29.89.
Mollie Lager (Sr., Robbinsdale, Minn.) and Sam Madsen (Fy., Franklin, Minn.) added third-place finishes in the mile run (5:19.13) and 1000 meter run (3:10.90), respectively, while Sari Lindeman (So., Cannon Falls, Minn.) finished fourth in the long jump (17- 0.75) and fifth in the triple jump (35-4).
Gustavus also finished second in the women’s 4×400 meter relay, posting a time of 4:03.41.
The Gusties return to the track next Saturday when they participate in the Minnesota Parents’ Day Invite at the University of Minnesota Fieldhouse.