The Aurora University Women's Track and Field team placed third at the 2023 Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference Outdoor Championships which took place from Friday, May 5th to Saturday, May 6^th. The Spartans finished with a score of 116 points. 

Lauren Bliefernicht was conference champion in the 100m dash with a personal record time of 12.61. She doubled back in the 200m dash with a second place finish in another personal record of 25.83. Those times are fourth and fifth in school history, respectively.  

The Heptathlon ended in a Spartan all-conference sweep. Skylar Gibbs was conference champion with a score of 3743 points, Alayna Koehler placed second with a score of 3465, and Hannah Cure placed third with a personal record score of 3420 points. Cure's score is eighth in school history. Gibbs returned to finish third in the 100m hurdles with a personal best time of 15.53. This time is third in school history. 

Deyanneira Colon Maldonado placed second in the 1500m run with a time of 4:47.02, improving on her second best time in school history. She returned to place third in the 5k with a time of 18:19.29. 
Samantha Barret was all-conference in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:08.75, placing third. Barrett also scored in the Steeplechase, placing sixth. 

Also scoring for the Spartans were: 
Abby Liesen – 10,000m (4^th), Steeplechase (4^th) 
Ashley Greer – Javelin (5^th), Discus (6^th) 
Madison Etheridge – 1500m (6^th), 800m (6^th) 
Emily Fetzer – 10,000m (7^th), 5000m (8^th) 
Natalie Grimaldo – 400m hurdles (5^th) 
Koehler – High Jump (6^th) 
Ari Mack – 100m (7^th) 
N'Dya Fields – 1500m (7^th) 
Faustyna Karpiesiuk – Triple Jump (8^th) 
Lauren Spain – Pole Vault (8^th) 
4x100m relay of Bliefernicht, Mary Dietz, Mariette Soglohun, and Mack (5^th) 
4x400m relay of Bliefernicht, Barrett, Grimaldo, and Etheridge (6^th) 

Full results can be found here.

The women compete next at the Carius-Gregory Invitational hosted by North Central College, beginning on Thursday, May 11^th.