The Marshall University track and field team travels to Winston-Salem, North Carolina as it begins its first outdoor portion of the season Friday in the Wake Forest Open.
The Herd will compete against representatives from 31 other schools in the two-day event.
Over the course of Marshall’s indoor season, freshmen Elisabeth Paulina, sophomore Breanna Hargrove, sophomore Naja Greer and senior Shanice Johnson placed ninth in the conference in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 3:49.42.
Sophomore Madeline Armstrong, freshman Makaylah Downour, sophomore Barkley Castro and junior Andrea Porter earned 10th place in the distance medley relay with a time of 12:17.55.
Armstrong placed 22nd in the 1-mile run with a time of 5:09.97.
After wrapping up the indoor season, Marshall collectively placed 13th at the Conference-USA Indoor Championships.
Senior Asia Bang placed fourth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.46, and freshmen Elena Marchand placed sixth in shot put with a throw of 13.90 meters.
Sophomore Victoria Dent said despite the team feeling prepared for the Wake Forest Open, it cannot help but feel slightly nervous considering several universities from major conferences are competing in the event.
“We are a little bit nervous because it’s a huge meet for us and our first outdoor meet of the season,” Dent said. “But we are looking forward to it and think that we can hit some fast times since a lot of good competition is going to be there.”
Johnson said she is excited for the meet this weekend, especially since this is her season season.
“It’s my last first outdoor meet,” Johnson said. “So, I’m excited and anxious to see what this outdoor season has to bring for the team and myself.”
Marshall head coach Jeff Small said the team is looking forward to competing outside and finishing the season strong.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing Heidi Heiniger throw the javelin and seeing what our 400 hurdlers can do,” Small said. “Also, we’re looking forward to watching the team pass the stick in the 4×100, so we’re ready to roll.”
The two-day event kicks off Thursday and continues all day Friday.
Brittanie Fowler can be contacted at [email protected].