Full Results

HELENA, Mont. - Leah Esposito earned her second career national title and 10 Saints earned All-American honors to close out the NAIA Indoor National Championship in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Esposito led most of the final few laps but second-place finisher Adri Sigafoose of Aquinas College pulled ahead with just over 100 meters to run. Esposito rallied and closed and edged out sigafoose by .22 of a second at the line with a time of 4:56.89.

"Even when Leah got passed, I knew she wasn't about to let her win that race," head coach Harry Clark said. "She is such a bulldog, she got that look in her eye and I knew she was going to get it done."

Esposito also ran the final leg for the Saints' distance medley relay team that finished second overall with a time of 11:58.58, just .54 of a second behind a familiar opponent, Aquinas College with Sigafoose on the anchor leg. A big part of the success in the DMR was Sandy Torres who also finished third in the 800 meter run.

"Second place in the DMR is great for us as we build on what we are doing," Clark said. "It was great to see how we handled that at a team. Sandy was in third in the individual 800 and knew she wasn't going to catch the second-place runner so she laid off and saved her energy for the relay. That is what happens when you have seniors who are veterans and run smart races."

The 4x400 meter relay team ran a school-record time of 3:49.46 to dominate their heat and earn a fourth-place finish in the event. Kara Barth overcame a hamstring injury to run a solid 46 second split in the anchor leg.

"Who knows what would have happened if our heat was more competitive," Clark said. "We weren't pushed in our heat at all, the other one was a battle from start to finish and it ended up being a lot faster. I am proud of what those four did today, especially Kara, she was hurting and battled through it. All of them come back next year and we have a lot of momentum heading into outdoor track."
 
Two first-time All-Americans were Chance Hyatt in the mile and Marisa Sanchez in the 400 meter dash. Hyatt finished in seventh place finish with a time of 4:22.09. Sanchez tallied a personal best time of 58.35 to earn a seventh-place finish.

"Marisa has never been in the final of any race during her time here and to see make a final and put up her best time in it is pretty exciting for her," Clark said.

The saints also had some near podium misses. Annika Moore finished ninth in the triple jump and Crystal Schmidt tied for ninth in the high jump. They join Terrah Cundith who finished ninth in the pole vault yesterday.

"It is disappoint but on the other side of the coin, all of those that finished close are all coming back," Clark said. "We have a big crew of freshmen and this just wet their appetite a little. We had some ups and downs this meet but we are excited to get back at it for outdoor season and compete harder.

The Saints finished eighth overall on the women's side of the meet and 10 of 19 athletes that made the trip for the Saints earned All-American honors.

The Saints begin the outdoor track and field season on March, 19 at the UGF Open in Great Falls.
 Hannah Porch • Long Jump • seventh place • 18-1.5
Leah Esposito • Mile • Champion • 4:56.89
                                DMR • second place • 11:58.58
Chance Hyatt • Mile • Seventh place • 4:22.09
Marisa Sanchez • 400m • Seventh place • 54.35
                                DMR • second place • 11:58.58
Sandy Torres • 800m • third place • 2:13.48
                                DMR • second place • 11:58.58
Macala Fifield • DMR • second place • 11:58.58
Monica White • 400m relay • fourth place • 3:49.46
Brianna Olson • 400m relay • fourth place • 3:49.46
Keely Ehmann • 400m relay • fourth place • 3:49.46
Kara Barth • 400m relay • fourth place • 3:49.46