Mackenzie Chojnacky, shown here running at a cross country meet
Chojnacky finished second among 113 runners and was one of the three to break the record of 16:28.71, finishing with a final mark of 16.25.38.
Freshman Brooke Tullis nearly broke the record as well, posting a final time of 16:32.56 for fourth place.
Chojnacky’s time is the fourth-best in UT history and ranks her above former All-Americans Brianna Shook and Emma Kertesz. Tullis’ time puts her in fifth place behind Shook and one spot ahead of Kertesz. Both runners now sit at the top of the Mid-American Conference performance list.
Juniors Kaylin Belair and Devyn Ramsay each hit their automatic qualifying marks while finishing 10th and 17th place in the 5,000-meter, respectively.
The Rockets now hold four of the top five MAC times, as freshman Liz Weiler hit her qualifying mark of 17:05.12 at the Indiana Gladstein Invite Jan. 18.
Sarah Woodrum finished 10th in the 400-meter dash with a final time of 57.23. Freshman Ciara Dickerson ended up 28th at 59.25.
Freshman Megan Gaysunas was the only runner in the mile and finished 20th overall with a time of 5:02.20.
Junior Jillian Sledge finished ninth in the prelims and finals of the 60-meter hurdles, finishing with a mark of 8.78 in the later. Junior sprinters Amber Brown (14th place; 7.80) and Ashley Phillips (tied for 27th; 7.89) both ran the 60-meter dash at the Grand Valley State Big Meet. Brown qualified for the 60-meter in the first meet of the season at Eastern Michigan Dec. 7.
Freshman Lexis Williams posted a time of 25.28 in the 200-meter dash to finish 24th overall.
Dickerson, Williams, Woodrum and Sledge also finished 10th overall in the 4×400-meter relay at 3:53.42.
UT will compete in its final indoor meet at Kent State Saturday, Feb. 16, before the conference championships the following week Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23.
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