The men’s and women’s track and field programs are fresh off fourth-place performances at the NAIA Indoor National Championships and have shown no signs of slowing down for outdoor season.

The Saints just recently hosted the Don Kleinow Invitational April 16, where both the men and women had exceptional showings in front of a stellar hometown crowd.

On the women’s side, 12 Saints had automatic-qualifying performances for nationals and seven Saints took home first place finishes.

First place finishers for the women include: Stephanie Marquardt in the 100m hurdles at 13.89 seconds, Phoenix Duncan in the high jump at 1.68 meters, Madison Pierce in long jump at 5.88 meters, Kasey Renshaw in hammer throw at 60.41 meters, Ashley O’Neil in throws at 43.79 meters, Mildrenae Young in triple jump at 11.65 meters, and Jalesia Johnson in the 400m hurdles at 1:06.01. The 4x100m relay team of J. Johnson, Marquardt, Dominique Taylor and Young also took first place honors.

“They stayed accountable to each other and we were all very excited to compete,” said women’s head coach Kirk Richards. “Once a team like this gets rolling, I don’t have to do much. There’s a lot of ownership within the team where it’s their program.”

“It happens only once or twice a year,” Richards said about the team competing at home. “They get to compete in front of their friends, family and faculty, so they definitely wanted to prove to the Siena community that they are very elite at what they do. It was there and they talked about it.”

According to Richards, just falling short of a national title in indoor has his team hungrier than ever to test their chances again at outdoor.

“There was some disappointment there after indoor, but I think our girls are now realizing it’s possible,” he said.

On the men’s side, the Saints recorded seven first-place performances and had four automatic-qualifying marks in a successful meet.

First place finishers for the men include: Frederick Boyd in the 110m hurdles at 14.53 seconds, Torin Anderson in 400m hurdles at 54.75 seconds, Dominic Muessig in the 800m run at 1:51.53, Zakary Haines in the 200m dash at 21.65 seconds, and Patrick Goebel in the discus throw at 49.69 meters. The 4x100m relay team of Haines, Blaine Ellington, Javon McQueen and Demetris Hughs along with the 4x400m relay team of Haines, Joshua Miles, Brent Rodden and Muessig also finished first.

“It was great for the school,” men’s head coach Tim Bauer said of the meet. “We had so many activities going on. New kids were coming into campus to sign up for Siena Heights, and for everyone to see how crazy it was is nice, because you like activity. We had a ton of people, which was great for the school and great for our student-athletes.”

“The weather was great. The wind wasn’t bad. Throws took a while because we had so many entries, but other than that it was just a great meet. We were really excited about it. You usually get some good performances at home because you get to sleep in your own bed. You can walk right out to the track instead of getting up so early in the morning. Everything is just kind of a nice routine for you.”

The Saints hope to continue their hot start to the outdoor season at the Otterbein Twilight Invitational in Westerville, Ohio, on April 22. Some qualified athletes will also compete in the Jessie Owens meet April 22 and 23 at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

For those who wish to see the Saints compete live this season, both track teams will be in action at home May 5 and 6 as SHU is hosting the annual WHAC Outdoor Championships.