NMU’s track and field team traveled to University Center, Mich. to compete in the W-C-W meet, where they faced off against Saginaw Valley State and Wayne State. The team came out on top for the second year in a row, finishing the meet with a total score of 133 points, while Wayne State had 120.5 and Saginaw Valley finished with 85.5.

NMU secured seven first-place finishes during the event and had 21 podium finishes. In the 60-meter hurdles, Ellyse Wolfrath claimed victory with a time of 8.72. She also placed third in the 60-meter dash, clocking in at 7.87.

Joining Wolfrath atop the podium was Beverly Harper, who won the 800-meter race, finishing with a time of 2:16.22. Gianna Hoving dominated the mile, finishing in 5:02.71.

In the 5,000-meter race, the longest event of the meet, the Wildcats took home both second and third place. Dani VanLente earned silver with a time of 18:37.57, followed closely by Celia Wallace, who finished in 19:01.44.

In the final track event, a relay team consisting of Wolfrath, Ciara Ostrenga, Ahna Larson, and Harper, took home silver with a time of 2:45.39.

Jumping over to the field events, Kati Smith took home the gold in pole vault with a winning height of 3.60 meters. Crystal Walker secured the win in the long jump with a leap of 5.36 meters, while fellow jumper Sofi Diop finished second with a jump of 5.32 meters.

In the weight throw, Teiolla Harvey threw for a distance of 15.11 meters, earning her the top spot on the podium. Alayna Vandegriff claimed first place in the triple jump, with a distance of 10.86 meters.

In the high jump, Grace Wolfe and Eva Zonca were tied for second place, both clearing 1.52 meters.

Rounding out with shot put, NMU had two athletes on the podium. Harvey secured second place with a throw of 12.14 meters, followed closely by Alizabeth Little, who threw for a distance of 11.88 meters.

In the coming weeks, the team will travel to Minnesota to compete in one the biggest events of the season, the Mankato Indoor Challenge, which is taking place this weekend, Feb. 14-15. After that, the Wildcats will head to Kenosha, Wis. for the Parkside Classic on Feb. 22.

To start the month of March, the team returns to University Center to compete in the GLIAC Indoor Championships, scheduled for March 1-2.