ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Sophomore Makenna King, freshman Ciarra Franz, and the 4x400 relay team all added themselves to the list of Cardinals headed to the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Championship this winter, bringing the running total of regional qualifiers from the St. John Fisher College women's track and field team to eight individuals and one team. With 50 team points, Fisher finished tied for sixth place at Saturday's Conference Challenge held at the Golisano Training Center on the campus of Nazareth College.
 
The Cardinals' showed dominance in the field events today, starting with King's standout performance in the throwers' pit. On her first attempt at the shot put, the sophomore tossed her best mark of her career at 11.61 meters, which stood as her day's best as she took second place in the competition and joined teammate Jordan Lehman in AARTFC qualifiers in the event. In the other throwing event, the weight throw, Lehman and Elizabeth Izydorczak went 6-7 with marks of 13.91 meters and 13.12 meters, respectively.
 
Meanwhile, freshman Franz got the boost she was looking for in the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. In the dash, Franz placed 7th overall in the first round at a time of 8.18 seconds, but saved her afterburners for the hurdles. Franz finally surpassed the AARTFC qualifying mark in the preliminary round, running a personal best time of 9.27 seconds, then turned around to run a 9.29 second final round and finished third overall.
 
Generating the most team points on the day for the Cardinals were Michaela Kurbs and Veronica Duell in the long jump – both of which have already qualified for the regional championship. Following her second successful leap of the competition, Kurbs had surpassed the meet record at a measurement of 5.47 meters and was only outdone in the finals by .04 meters, to place her second overall. Duell finished closely behind her fellow Cardinal, as the freshman placed fourth overall after measuring a distance of 5.29 meters, totaling 13 points in the event for the team.
 
On the track, Samantha Shea and Gracie Wright paired up to take a 5-6 finish in the 400-meter run with times of 59.39 seconds and 1:00.11 respectively. They then went on to team up with Breanna Lambert and Emma Wright in the 4x400 relay where they crossed the finish line in 4:08.78 to place third and qualify for regionals.
 
Fisher runners were also scattered amongst the highly saturated distance races and made big finishes in the 5,000-meter run, the mile, and the 800-meter run. Riley Corey placed 6th in the 5K at a time of 18:43.27 while senior Morgan Gould took 13th place after she crossed the finish line in 19:58.83. Lauren DeMichele and Chelsea Lamphere finished in 16th and 20th places, respectively in the mile as DeMichele tallied a time of 5:39.89 while Lamphere finished in 5:55.07. Taylor Highers wrapped up the distance races in the 800-meter run with a 15th place finish in 2:30.49, setting a new personal best in the event along the way.
 
The Cardinals get back to work this upcoming Friday and Saturday, February 4th and 5th when they go back west to Brockport for the Golden Eagles' Multi Invite.