DULUTH, Minn. - Last season, the Minnesota Morris women's distance medley relay team broke a UMAC record in winning the event at the UMAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Friday, the Cougar quartet shattered last year's record by nearly 10 seconds in Day 1 of the championships at the Burns Wellness Center in Duluth.

The foursome of Katherine Novak, Brooke Hogan, Tanna Boyle, and Hannah Goemann won the race by nearly 21 seconds with a time of 13:07.99. Last year's Cougar team of Goemann, Boyle, Rachel Wingenbach, and Laura Borkenhagen ran a time of 13:17.53.

Day 1 results

Also earning a conference championship was Sami Brinkmann. Her distance of 14.73m (48-04.00) in the weight throw gave her the event win for the second straight season.

The Cougars sit in fourth place after the first day with 45 team points. St. Scholastica leads the competition with 74.5 points. Wisconsin-Superior sits in second with 63 points with Bethany Lutheran right behind with 61.5. Northwestern is in fifth with nine points.

Having a runner-up performance was Carly Denler in the high jump as she delivered a height of 1.45m (4-09.00).

Gabrielle Ward's time of 20:29.98 in the 5000 meters was good for fourth place. Coming up with fifth place showings was Sierra Paske in the weight throw (12.61m, 41-04.50) and Molly McGrath in the long jump (4.80m, 15-09.00).

Competition continues Saturday in Duluth.