READING, PA - The Bryn Mawr Owls narrowly pushed past the Muhlenberg Mules, earning their first conference win of the indoor season earlier Saturday at the Alvernia University PLEX Shootout. Led by strong finishes from Jess Johnson in the jumps, Awurabena Anane in the sprints, and both Lauren Kitay and Eva Ackley in the distance events, the Owls mustered 32.5 points for a 7^th place finish, beating out the Mules by just 1.5 points.

Highlights:

• SPRINTS/ HURDLES: Anane's 8.31s in the 60m was strong enough to earn her a spot in the finals. She repeated the performance, running 8.31s in the finals, and finishing 4th overall. Mika Heshiki qualified for the Centennial Conference Championships in her first attempt of the 60m dash, finishing with a time of 8.60s while classmate Autumn Williams earned a personal record (PR) of 9.11s. Dahlia Nemes finished 16^th in the hurdles (11.54s) and then doubled back to set a PR in the 400m dash (1:10.78). Nemes was joined by Emma Smirk, who dropped down from the mid-distance events to also set a PR in the 400m (1:13.83).
• THROWS: Nora Steil started strong in the weight throw. After a second attempt that landed as her second-best attempt of all-time, Steil went for broke on the final throw, setting an all-time PR of 10.86m. Steil had a great series in the shot put, consistently putting all attempts over nine meters and finishing with a throw of 9.31m; just six centimeters off her PR of 9.37m.
• JUMPS: Johnson kicked her day off with a 1.52m jump in the high jump. This is just shy of her PR jump of 1.53m. Moving to the long jump, Johnson finished 2^nd with her best mark of 5.01m. This ties the junior's season's best jump. Johnson finished the day with a triple jump height of 10.68m, which was good enough to land her a 2^nd place finish. Heshiki cleared 2.40m in the pole vault, finishing 17^th in the event.
• DISTANCE: The milers continued the onslaught of PRs that has become the hallmark of this indoor season. Junior Ackley landed a huge PR of 5:39.59, becoming the third Owl this season to qualify for Champs in the mile. Megan McDonald returned to the mile, running sub six. Cora Rosin (2:42.58) and Phylicia Cannon (2:52.84) both ran season bests in the 800m, but Smirk (2:48.99) put down one of the most impressive performances in Bryn Mawr history. Having run a PR of 3:04.82 back in December, Smirk dropped over 16 seconds this afternoon to finish with a 2:48.99. In the 3k, Kitay set a PR by over 46 seconds, marking another great performance for an Owl. Kitay's effort also placed her 4^th in the event and qualified her for the Centennial Conference Championships.
• RELAYS: The Owls had their first opportunity to run the 4x200m relay earlier Saturday. The team of Heshiki, Anane, Williams, and Kayla Camille impressed, running a solid mid-season time of 1:55.91 before handing the baton off to the 4x400m team. The endurance squad dropped down to the 4x400m relay again this week for a little speed work. This iteration included Kitay, Ackley, Rosin, and Cannon, running 4:53.36.

The Owls will return next Saturday to compete in the Collegeville Invitational at Ursinus College. Tune in for live results on gobrynmawr.com and follow @bmcathletics on social media to stay up to date with your favorite Bryn Mawr teams.