The women’s track team came home from its Big 12 meet in Lincoln, Neb., with the satisfying feeling of accomplishment. The team came out with 66.5 points, tying a program record at the meet and finshing in sixth place.

Distance runners Betsy Saina and Lucy Kennedy ran a good race in the 3,000-meter run. Kennedy finished second with a time of 9:23.21 with Saina coming in only 0.8 seconds behind her. Saina was also able to pull off first place in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:14.96.

“Lucy did a really good job in her race after being stuck in a slow heat of the 3,000-meter run,” said assistant coach Travis Hartke, “but she hung on and fought through her race.”

This was Kennedy’s first time at the Big 12 meet after she began her track career at Iowa State moving from Queensland, Australia.

“I was really happy with second place,” Kennedy said. “I had a really bad mile heat, so coming out with second place really made up for that.”

Kianna Elahi once again proved to everyone her consistency and finished second in the 600-meter run, only about one second behind Texas’s top runner.

The women’s weight throwers also made a big contribution to the team’s score.

Cyclone Laishema Hampton threw her way to second place on day one, and on day two she threw for ninth place with a mark of 50 feet-0.75 inches.

“I thought we could maybe sneak out first, but she did have a good meet,” said assistant coach Grant Wall. “She came to this meet and threw her best ever into the shot and just barely missed making the final.”

Cyclone Danielle Frere improved her score on the shot put from Friday, earning fifth place by throwing a personal best 53 feet-9.25 inches. 

“When it comes down to it, your preliminaries are basically the final,” Hartke said. “If you make the finals, it’s basically gravy on top.”