Marshall track and field scored 166 team points this weekend as it won the Catamount Classic. The Herd outlasted host school Western Carolina by 26 points.  Head coach Jeff Small said the points were tight in the beginning, but strong performances launched Marshall to the top of the standings.

“It was back and forth between us and Western (Carolina) throughout the first 15 events, but we started to pull away toward the end,” Small said. “It was great to win, as it always is.”

The Herd continued to achieve school records in the meet—something it has done from the beginning of the indoor season. Between Friday and Saturday, Marshall student-athletes broke three school records and won six events.

Sophomore Christianna Dogan broke the school record in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.57, two one-thousandths of a second faster than a record that stood for nearly 20 years (1998, 1:00.59).

Freshman Lauren Zaglifa, who set a school record in the pole vault earlier this season at the Marshall Chipotle Invitational (3.50 meters; 11 feet, 5.75 inches), broke her own record over the weekend. She finished second in the event with a top clearance of 3.60 meters (11 feet 9.75 inches).

Additionally, the Herd tallied four first-place finishes. Junior Elena Marchand accomplished a first-place finish in the discus throw with a best of 46.36 meters (152 feet, 1 inch). In the triple jump, junior Melany Belot registered a win with a top jump measurement of 12.37 meters (40 feet, 7 inches). In the 5,000-meter run, junior Adriana Cook accomplished her first top finish of the season, posting a time of 17:45.77. Then, in the 200-meter dash, freshman Brandy Elysee outran a field of 28 sprinters with a time of 23.99. She was the only athlete to finish with 24 seconds.

Small said at the start of the season that this could be the best team in the program’s history, and record-setting performances are backing that claim up more than halfway through the year.

“A majority of those kids are young, too,” Small said. “I think they’re going to get better throughout the year and then be really good in the next couple of years. It’s exciting to think about.”

The Herd travels to Charlottesville, Virginia this weekend for the Virginia Classic at the University of Virginia.

Luke Creasy can be contacted at [email protected].