The Aurora University Spartan women's indoor track and field team captured the 2014 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Championship on Saturday, March 1 at Carthage College. AU finished with 298.5 points, winning by more than 200 points.
 
AU had numerous impressive performances on the day which saw the Spartans wrap up the Championship quickly and run away with the win.
 
Thirty-two individuals or teams (relays) scored points on the day with 19 of those Spartan individual or teams bringing home a medal (top three-finish).

AU Head Coach Ryan Chapman was named the NACC Women's Coach of the Year, while the Spartans swept the meet awards with sophomore Talia Sheedlo being named the NACC Athlete and Field Athlete of the Meet, sophomore Emily Paull being named NACC Track Athlete of the Meet, and freshman Lisa Rodriguez taking home NACC Track Athlete and Freshman of the Meet.
 
Spartans won conference championships in 11 events, including high jump (Jenna Taylor), pole vault (Rachel Burkhart), triple jump (Talia Sheedlo), 55 meter hurdles (Talia Sheedlo), 55 meter dash (Lisa Rodriguez), 200 meter (Lisa Rodriguez), 800 meter (Lena Palmer), mile run (Emily Paull), 3,000 meter (Emily Paull), the 4x400 meter relay (Loretta Johnson, Crystal Abernathy, Rodriguez and Paull), and the distance medley relay (Palmer, Breana Balaskovits, Emily Probst and Saryia Sabir)..
 
Sheedlo set an AU and NACC record in the triple jump with her jump of 10.86 meters and won the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.95. She scored 31 individual points on the day.

Rodriguez competed in three events for AU on the day, scoring 20 individual points and 10 as part of the 4x400 meter relay. She won both the 55 meter dash (7.50) and 200 meter (26.12), and she was the third leg of the AU and NACC record setting 4x400 meter relay that finished with a time of 4:06.80.

Sophomore Emily Paull scored 20 individual points and 10 as part of the 4x400 meter relay team. She set AU and NACC records while winning the mile run (5:13.44), won the 3,000 meter (10:48.90), and was the anchor leg on the AU and NACC record setting 4x400 meter relay  (4:06.80).

Sophomore Lena Palmer made her mark on the day, winning the 800 meter with an AU and NACC record time of 2:21.65, and freshman Rachel Burkhart won the pole vault with an AU and NACC record height of 3.20 meters.

Next action for the Spartans comes on Friday, March 7 when they compete in the Last Chance Meet at Carthage College. Meet time is set for 3:30 p.m. in Kenosha, Wis.