COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. — The College of Saint Benedict track and field team opened its outdoor season in impressive fashion, winning two relays — including a meet record — and tallying 18 top five finishes at the CSB/SJU Optimistic Invitational on a cold and windy day at Clemens Stadium.

CSB competed against teams from DII Southwest Minnesota State, and DIII teams UW-River Falls, Concordia-Moorhead, Crown, Gustavus Adolphus, Jamestown, N.D., Minnesota Morris, Martin Luther, Northwestern-St. Paul, St. Catherine, and St. Scholastica.

Facing a mix of Division II and III competition, the Bennies were paced by dominant relay performances, highlighted by a record-setting run in the 4x400-meter relay.

The quartet of Taylor Dean (Hutchinson, Minn.), Lauren Berg (Bemidji, Minn.), Anna Schottler (Chanhassen, Minn.) and Macy Piechowski (Winona, Minn.) captured the 4x400 title in 4:06.31, setting a new meet record. A second CSB squad of Taylor Radaich (Prior Lake, Minn.), Anabella Witschen, Tiffany Dean (Hutchinson, Minn.) and Brooke Verkinnes (St. Cloud, Minn.) added depth with a fifth-place finish in 4:18.07.

St. Ben's also claimed the 4x100-meter relay, as Grace Buntrock (Rochester, Minn.), Anna Gries (Minneapolis, Minn.), Myah Nelson (Brainerd, Minn.) and Bella Lund (Mound, Minn.) crossed in 50.69. Lund added a strong individual showing, placing second in the 100-meter (12.58) and fourth in the 200-meter (26.77), just ahead of Allee Feldman (Buffalo, Minn.), who took fifth in 26.92. Buntrock finished seventh in the 200 at 27.58.

In the 400-meter, first-year Schottler impressed in her collegiate debut with a runner-up finish in 59.44, trailing only Ella Doble (59.05) of Southwest Minnesota State. Taylor Dean (Hutchinson, Minn.) also turned in a personal-best performance of 1:00.85 to place sixth.

Field events included sophomore Allison Banse (Mankato, Minn.) placing second in the shot put with a mark of 11.98 meters (39-3.75), while junior Sabriya Farquharson (Nassau, Bahamas) finished second in the long jump at 5.45 meters (17-10.75). First-year Morgan Hanlin (Red Wing, Minn.) added a fifth-place leap of 5.08 meters (16-8.00), and Hannah Scharnberg (Fergus Falls, Minn.) was seventh at 5.02 meters (16-5.75).

On the track, Juslene Chea (St. Michael, Minn.) led the Bennies in the 100-meter hurdles with a fifth-place time of 16.49, followed by Hanlin in ninth (17.25). In the 1,500 meters, senior Mary Kenney (St. Paul, Minn.) recorded a personal-best 4:53.17 to finish fifth.

The Bennies dominated the 3,000-meter steeplechase, placing six runners among the top six. First-year Daphne Grobstein (Golden Valley, Minn.) placed third with a time of 11:56.59, while first-year Lauren Masica (Orono, Minn.) took fourth in 13:25.29 and first-year Annika Johnson (Red Wing, Minn.) finished sixth in 13:55.64.

Additional top performances included Drea Terwedo's (LeSueur, Minn.) fourth-place finish in the high jump (1.55 meters / 5-1), a fourth-place 800-meter run from Taylor Radaich (Prior Lake, Minn.) in 2:20.64, and a sixth place showing from Anabella Witschen (Monticello, Minn.) in 2:24.63.

In the pole vault, Jaylyn Ahlberg (Shoreview, Minn.) and Lili Raidt (Waconia, Minn.) tied for third, each clearing 3.25 meters (10-8), while Parker Pollis (Richfield, Minn.) added a sixth-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 32.23 meters (105-9).

Next for CSB will be the Hamline Invitational in St. Paul (Klas Field) on Monday.