GENEVA, Oh. – Calvin opened competition at the NCAA III Outdoor Track and Field Championships Thursday evening on the campus of the Spire Institute.

Junior Sophie Bull (Denver, Co./Denver Christian HS) highlighted the night for Calvin by placing second in her prelim heat of the 3,000 meter steeplechase in a time of 10:38.09 to advance to Friday's championship final.

Senior Jenna Allman (Ann Arbor, Mich./Saline HS) also competed in the prelims and placed 16^th in a time of 11:00.18.

Graduate student Sydney Radigan (Portland, Ore. St. Stephen's Academy) competed in the prelims of the 200 meter dash, taking 16^th in a time of 24.71.

By placing in the top 16, Allman and Radigan both earned Division III Second Team All-America honors.

Radigan ran in the third and final heat of the 200 meter dash, competing out of the challenging lane eight.

Allman ran in the first of two prelim heats of the steeplechase. Midway through the race, she stumbled while clearing a barrier but survived a fall to the track to recover for an eighth place finish in the heat and ultimately a 16^th place finish for her second straight All-America performance in the race.

Bull meanwhile advanced to Friday's championship final with a well-executed race in the second prelim. Bull ran with the top five through the opening four laps then broke away over the final half of the race, comfortably finishing second in the race with a time of 10:38.09.

Bull had the seventh-fastest time out of the two prelim heats and will race again in Friday's championship final at 4:55 p.m.

COACHES COMMENT: "It was a good showing for Calvin for the first day of the NCAA III Championships!" said Calvin head track and field coach Adam Haldorson. "Sydney Radigan and Jenna Allman both earned 2nd Team All-America honors which was great and Sophie qualified for the Friday night finals. Sydney got the team off to a strong start by running the best opening 150 meters of her life and wable to hang on to finish 16th overall for an All-America finish. She's had an incredible year overall, breaking all of the Calvin short sprint records and qualifying for both indoor and outdoor nationals! In heat one of the women's steeplechase prelims, Jenna was caught up in a very packed race and unfortunately took a tumble around the 2K mark. She showed her grit and fought back up to finish 16th for an All-America finish. Jenna gets to look back at her Calvin track and field and cross country career full of highlights and championships! She's been an absolute rock star for both programs and leaves a big mark that will last for many years. In heat two of the women's steeple, Sophie ran a very smart race, finishing second in her heat to safely qualify for finals. She looked super strong and poised for a big performance on Friday. Every time we think Sophie is getting close to her limits, she keeps going even faster. We are all extremely excited to see how the race on Friday goes!"