BROCKPORT, N.Y. – Samantha Shea and Gracie Wright each earned extra appearances at this year's All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Championship while Michaela Kurbs qualified for her first regional event on Saturday as the St. John Fisher College women's track and field team competed at the Winter Welcome Back to Brockport Meet at the SUNY Brockport SERC. With 87 total points, the Cardinals fought to a fourth-place finish amongst the region's top opponents.
 
Shea, who has already qualified for the AARTFC Championship in the 400-meter run, stepped onto the track and sped to marks that garnered regional appearances in both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. The transfer sprinter was the quickest qualifier in the first round of the 60-meter dash, by eclipsing the regional standard at 8.08 seconds, then turned around and ran a new personal best in the final round at 8.00 seconds flat and took the race's title. In the afternoon session, she sped to a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter dash by crossing the finish line in 26.31 seconds, a .03 second personal best.
 
By her side in both races was first-year Wright, who put her speed on display in both races. Fellow 400-meter run regional qualifier, Wright ran back-to-back 8.34-second 60-meter dash times as she finished in seventh place in the final round, then came back in the afternoon to run a 26.63-second 200-meter dash and finish in seventh place, qualifying for the AARTFC Championship by just .07 seconds.
 
Making her first appearance since last calendar year, Kurbs came out firing in the long jump as the sophomore grabbed her best mark of the season on her third attempt of the day. Her leap of 5.35 meters not only earned her a first-place finish in the event, but punched her ticket to regionals by exceeding the standard by a tenth of a meter. She joins Veronica Duell in long jump  AARTFC qualifiers for the season, while the freshman tallied a mark of 5.21 meters for third place on the day. Kurbs also appeared in the 60-meter dash alongside Shea and Wright, where she ran a personal best time of 8.24 seconds in the race's final round.
 
The Cardinals' top-scoring event of the day took place in the throwers' pit, as the team scored 17 points in the shot put. Jordan Lehman led the squad with a second-place finish at a heave of 11.32 meters, but standout performances from Makenna King and Lyndsay O'Brien placed them both on the podium with fourth and fifth place finishes, respectively. Both throwers tossed career best distances as King threw for 11.22 meters while O'Brien met the 11.07-meter mark. Later on, Lehman made her second throws appearance of the day in the weight throw, where she took fifth place at a mark of 13.96 meters and was joined by classmate Elizabeth Izydorczak in sixth place with a personal best toss of 13.44 meters.
 
As for the middle distance races of the day, senior Taylor Highers battled to a fourth place finish in the mile after earning a PR of 5:33.75 while classmate Alivia Collins grabbed a career best of her own in the 800-meter run at a time of 2:28.55.
 
Fisher will now take a week to rejuvenate before next Saturday's Conference Challenge, held at Nazareth College on January 29th.