DES MOINES, Iowa (April 29, 2023) - The Buena Vista women's outdoor track & field team had multiple events taking part in the prestigious Drake Relays on Friday while the remainder of the team took part in the Grand View Classic.

Becca Simpson was among those competing on the Blue Oval inside of Drake Stadium on Friday, and she would go on to place third in the hammer throw (54.41m) and fourth in the javelin (43.67m). She rounded out her day by taking 11th in the shot put (13.71m).

The Beavers also had a pair of relay teams taking part at Drake. The 4x100 relay team of Katara Jondle, Kylie Johnston, Jessica Sump and Hannah Olson captured third place in a time of 48.93 seconds which places them fourth on the program's all-time list. The 4x200 team consisting of Jondle, Johnston, Olson and Puritie Smith finished fourth with the third-fastest time in school history at 1:43.83.

Mary Yanga led a strong showing of field events for BVU at Grand View, taking second overall in the high jump with a mark of 5-1. Courtney Johnson had a big day as she landed second in the javelin throw with a heave of 34.68m (113-9) while also taking third in the shot put (12.20m; 40-0.5) and seventh in the hammer throw (44.71m, 146-8). All three of her marks on the day were season-bests. Anna Friedrichsen took second in the hammer throw with a season-best toss of 48.07m (157-8).

Sump added to her weekend as well by taking third in the long jump with a season-best leap of 5.22m (17-1.5) while Carla Lopez took fourth in the triple jump with her best mark of the spring at 10.03m (32-11). Grace Hatcher added to the list of top-5 performances in the field events by placing third in the pole vault with a season-best of 2.60m (8-6.25).

Buena Vista is set to return to competition on May 5 at the USD Tuneup in Vermillion, S.D.