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HU's Hicks punches third ticket to NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championship

Senior Christiana Hicks punched her third straight ticket to the NAIA Indoor Track & Field Championship on Friday night, Feb. 10, with a winning triple jump of 11.07 meters at the Defiance College Dick Small Invitational.

Sprinter Nicole Pennington was a double-winner for HU at the meet and Aspen Dirr also got a win as HU placed second with 99 points, 50 off the total of champion Manchester.

Hicks, a Fort Wayne native will be on the prowl for her second NAIA All-American honor as she placed eighth at indoor national last year to earn the designation.

Pennington ran a pair of personal-bests to claim her wins. She went :08.08 in the 60-meter dash and  :27.47 in the 200-meter dash.

Dirr got the remaining win with a time of 5:35.71 in the mile. She also placed third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:35.04.

Runner-up spots for HU were claimed by Samantha McCoy in the 400-meter dash and Jean Donaldson in the weight throw. McCoy went 1:04.10 for her second and Donaldson tossed 48-03.25 for her top finish.

Michelle Kelsey brought home a pair of third place finishes in field events. She was third in the triple jump in 31-10.75 and took the same spot in the high jump with a leap of 4-09.75.

Rosie Ditzler took third for HU in the 3,000-meter run, in 12:06.94, and Rachael Smelser was fifth in the 800 in 2:43.99. The 1,600-meter relay team of Dirr, Kelsey Graber, Kelsey and Smelser took second in 4:33.06.

Olivet finished third in the team chase with 67.5 points. Defiance was fourth with 50.5 points and Concordia was fifth among nine teams with 49 points.