The Aurora University women's track and field team captured its second consecutive Northern Athletics Conference outdoor championship, and the third in school history with a dominating performance at the 2013 Meet. AU was able to pull away and hold on to the championship with a significant 78.13 point
In addition to the conference title AU Head Coach Ryan Chapman was honored as the 2013 NAC Women's Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year.

The Spartans had six individual NAC champions as well as one team relay champion on the day. In all, AU had 45 individual point scorers from 21 Spartans and two relay teams that contributed to the championship winning effort.

Freshman Liz Canaday was crowned the 200 and 400 meter dash champion, breaking the AU school record in the 200 with a time of 26.08. In addition to her individual crowns Canaday was named the Track Athlete of the meet. Canaday was also part of the 4 x 400 relay team that placed first, along with Loretta
Fellow freshman Elise Hinson won the 100 meter hurdles and also broke the AU school record with a time of 16.06. Hinson also recorded a second place finish in the triple jump and fourth in the shot put, leading to her being named the Freshman of the Meet.

Rounding out the individual champions is Kaylee Swearingen who took first place in the javelin throw, second in the heptathlon, fourth in the 100 meter hurdles and seventh in the pole vault. Her prowess in the two events earned her all-around athlete of the meet as well.

Also winning an individual event was senior Ainsley Richards. Richards led a strong team effort from the Spartans winning the long jump event with distance of 5.09 meters. Joining Richards in the top four were Lauren Miller (second place) and Ciara Marlow (fourth place).
The triple jump also saw five Spartans place in the top eight to score points. Marlow (fourth), Talia Sheedlo (fifth), Miller (seventh) and Caitlin Monigold (eighth) all joined Hinson in the top eight.

Loretta Johnson had a strong showing at the meet, in addition to being part of the winning 4x400 meter relay, she finished third in the 100 meter (12.96) and fourth in the 200 meter (26.52).

Junior C.J. Houlis finished second in both the 5,000 meter (18:49.25) and 10,000 meter (38:46.71), with Anna Perkowski finishing right behind her in third place in both events (18:55.71 in the 5,000 and 39:27.40 in the 10,000 meter).
Marlow added to her performances in the long jump, triple jump and relays with a third place finish in the 400 meter (1:01.76) and tied for sixth in the high jump (1.36 meters).

The women throwers, Samantha Owens, Rebecca Rod, Cara Hahne and Haley Sears also added good performances on the day.

Next action for the Spartan women's track and field team comes on Thursday, May 9 and Friday, May 10 at the Dr. Keeler Last Chance Meet hosted by North Central College. Meet time is set for 3:00 p.m. in Naperville, Ill.