BIRMINGHAM – The women’s distance medley relay team took second place at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday.
The team, consisting of senior Marina Ghabbour, sophomore Chavariana Ryan, sophomore Aman Hundal and junior Courtney Anderson, finished with a time of 11:31.76, second only to the top-ranked University of Mary, who finished with a time of 11:28.92.
The Warriors’s finishing time was almost 12 seconds faster than their qualifying time set earlier in the season.
Ghabbour ran the 1200-meter first leg of the race and gave the team the lead going into the second leg. Ryan then ran the 400-meter second leg of the race and kept the Warriors close.
Hundal ran the third leg of 800 meters, but with the competitors finally caught up, it was Anderson’s job as the anchor to bring the team back from fifth place. The last leg of the race is a 1600 meter run, but Anderson was up for the challenge. Completing the run in 4:46.14, she gave her team the second place finish when she crossed the finish line.
“Most of the race I just sat on the lead runners,” Anderson said.
“But with about 50 meters to go I was able to pass two teams to put us in second. It was truly an amazing feeling.”
Coming into the event ranked fourth, the team’s second-place finish exceeded even their own expectations.
“The main goal was to achieve All-American honors, which is top eight in the nation,” Coach Diljeet Taylor said. “We just had a race plan that would put the baton in Courtney’s hand in around third or fourth place, at that time I knew she would be able to finish it off well.”
Although Ghabbour ran a first-leg that put her team in the lead, her experience with her teammates is what she truly appreciates.
“I’m so overjoyed,” she said. “Just sharing that moment and experience with my team was the best part of the event.”