The Aurora University women's track and field team competed at the First Chance Invitational hosted by North Central College on March 28th and 29th. The Spartans placed 4th of 11 teams with 78 points. The Spartans were led on Thursday by Deyanneria Colon Maldonado in the 5,000 meter run. Her time of 17:10.41 is a new Aurora University and Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference record. She won the event, finishing 1:09 ahead of the second place athlete. This time currently ranks her fourth in the nation.  Also with a strong showing the 5,000 meter was Madison Etheridge. Her time of 18:37.53 is the eighth best time in AU history. She finished in fifth place in the meet. She then doubled back on Friday with a strong performance in the 800m to finish in 2nd.  The final event on Thursday night was the 10,000 meter run. Abby Liesen finished third in the event and ran the seventh best time in Aurora history with a personal record of 39:21.11. This time is nearly one and a half minutes better than her previous personal record. She then doubled back on Friday and was the eighth scorer in the 1500m with a new PR of 5:14.21.  On day two, Lauren Bliefernicht led the way yet again. She placed third in the 100m dash with a time of 12.29. That is a new personal record and is now the third best time in Aurora history. She then doubled back in the 200m dash and finished fourth in a time of 25.53. Freshman Savannah Vasquez made her debut in the 1500m and placed fourth with a time of 5:04.00.  Ashlyn Nakishima made her season debut in the javelin, and through a mark that was just centimeters shy of her PR. Her mark of 34.33m placed fifth in the meet. Silja Erickson continued her outdoor success in the shot put by placing sixth in the meet. She also threw a huge new personal record in the discus, and her mark of 39.97m is now the sixth best in Aurora history, in addition to placing third in the meet.  Two Spartans scored in the high jump. Both Alayna Koehler and Keyara Bailey cleared 1.48m. After factoring in the tiebreakers, Koehler placed sixth, while Bailey finished in a tie for eighth place.  N'Dya Fields ran a season best in the 800m and placed seventh in the meet.  Skylar Gibbs was the final scorer for the Spartans. Her time of 16.12 in the 100 meter hurdles made her the eighth scorer of the meet.  Complete results can be found here.  Up next, the Spartans compete at the Chicagoland Championships hosted by Elmhurst University. Competition begins on Friday April 5.