The Allegheny women’s track and field teams came home with two wins and five top-three finishes at the Jim Wuske Invitational at the University of Mount Union on Saturday, Feb. 6.

Following a previous successful weekend at the SPIRE Midwest Invite, Natalie Corrado, ’18, was named NCAC Runner of the Week.

“I was very proud, I was hoping to get Gator Athlete of the Week after that meet and was proud to get NCAC Runner of the Week,” said Natalie Corrado, ’18. “It’s an honor to represent Allegheny and the hard work our coach has put in as well.”

At Mount Union, Corrado won the 200 meter dash at 26.54 seconds and placed fourth in the 60 meter dash at 8.09 seconds, in addition to achieving a personal best in the 60 meter hurdles coming in fourth at 9.31 seconds.

“I tried to carry the same momentum from the SPIRE meet into Mount Union, clear my mind and stay positive and focused,” Corrado said.

Josie Niovich, ’16, one of the sprint captains, said practice is what leads to success.

“We have an amazing coach who gives us a will to do well and form a real passion for the sport,” Niovich said. “If we hit workouts and times in practice, when we get to events everything is ingrained already.”

Niovich came in fifth in the 60 meter hurdles at 9.37 seconds.

“The past week I’ve done two-a-days and have gotten help from our coach, in addition to looking at film more,” said Aubri Caslin, ’17.

Caslin recorded two season bests at Mount Union, placing fourth in shot put with 11.55 meters and fourth in weight throw with 14.84 meters, the second-longest throw by an NCAC athlete this season. 

“It felt good, but I know I can do better and I need to keep working,” Caslin said.

Following their successes at SPIRE and Mount Union, the women want to continue working and achieve more of their goals.

“Personally, I want to win the conference, I’m currently second, and I want to place in the top five in shot put,” Caslin said. “As a team, we should aim for second or third in the conference.”

The women’s track and field team placed third in the conference last year, and is looking to do better this year.

“I’d like to run 8.9 in hurdles and make nationals, I was so close last year in indoor and outdoor,” Niovich said. “I am the only senior on the sprints team, so I want to be a good role model and show that you can come in not as good and succeed.”

The track and field teams work together, building off each other’s skills in practice and the classroom.

“The throwers, and everyone, help each other and love to see each other do well,” Caslin said. “There are three freshman guys contributing a lot, have experience and help me as well. At practice we all help each other when the coach can’t always see what everyone is doing. If we see something that is wrong or something they did well, we’ll tell each other.”

Caslin added that the team helps each other outside of practice as well, finding resources and tutoring each other for classes in which a teammate may be struggling.

“At practice we are a family, you’ll never see anyone running alone and we all cheer for each other. Outside of practice, we’re still a family, we get dinner together, study together and have team nights before meets and hold each other accountable,” Niovich said.

Niovich said being on the team has given her confidence in herself and allowed her to grow as an athlete.

“It’s a team sport but also individual, people feed off each other’s energy. If I see Josie do well, I’ll feed off of that and do well too,” Corrado said.

The track and field teams will compete in the Baldwin Wallace Mid-February Invitational on Friday, Feb. 12.