The Rowan women’s indoor track and field team took on the Big Apple Invitational in Staten Island and the Valentine Invitational in Boston this past weekend. 

In Staten Island, Izzy Deal shined yet again by placing first in the shotput while breaking her school record with a throw of 13.57m. Deal also took home the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) women’s track athlete of the week honors. Thrower Grace Vit also had a great performance as she PR’d in the shot put with a toss of 11.21m.

Another standout performance in Staten Island was from Gianna Burgio as she recorded a personal best in the mile run with a time of 5:21.95.

In Boston, Mya Walker had a great performance as she set a new PR in the 200 with a time of 26.85. The team’s distance medley relay of Anna Sasse, Ally Wernik, Molly Lodge, and Amanda McNally also shined in Boston with a time of 12:05.88, inching closer to the top ten in all of Division III. They currently hold the 13th spot and are 1.3 seconds from being 12th. 

Junior runner Anna Sasse, who was the anchor in the distance medley relay, gave a lot of the credit to her teammates in the relay for putting on a standout performance.

“I was the anchor and was a little sore,” Sasse said. “If I had a better day we could get into the 12th spot. In terms of the other girls, they really set me up for success and pulled through. It was awesome to see that, in this sport you might have doubts at times but they really overcame that.”

Next up for the Profs is the NJAC Championships, and Sasse has big goals for the team as she wants to see all of her teammates shine.

“I am feeling sick at the moment but I am hoping to feel better by NJACs,” Sasse said. “I would love to break five minutes in the mile, but as of right now I just want to be healthy going into the meet. For the team, I just really want to see the other girls have breakthroughs. We have an opportunity to put it all out there on the track. Even if we don’t win NJACs, I just want to see everyone cross the finish line and be happy with their performances.”

As far as the training and preparation go, Sasse feels like they are being prepared the best they could by coaches Eric DuBois and new distance coach Ashley Johnson. 

“I am pushing my body like I never have before,” Sasse said. “DuBois listens and is very good at communicating. He always thinks ahead as well which is very helpful. He has great workouts that are short rests and high volume. We also have Ashley Johnson now who is the new distance coach and she has been amazing as well. She was coached by Ringo and also won the 5k when she was a runner. They are both very personable coaches and they care about us a lot.”

Next up for the Profs is NJACs, where they look to take home the NJAC title on Feb. 19 at the Ocean Breeze Complex in Staten Island. 

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