RICHMOND, Va. — The Catholic University women's track and field team competed in the Fred Hardy Invite to begin the outdoor season on Friday. Today marked the 17th time the University of Richmond has hosted this meet.

The Cardinals got off to an impressive start, earning multiple top-ten finishes and breaking a program records. The 4x100 relay team of Erin Buckley, Sarah Schumacher, Felicity Giampietro, and Ellie Bixenman broke the former program record by .07 seconds in rout to a third place finish. They crossed the finish line in 49.97 seconds, just beating out the previous record of 50.04 set in 2022. 

Kate Inglis opened her outdoor season with a first-place finish in the steeple. Teammate Sadie Abood followed in fourth and was only .07 seconds off a PR.

Mia McConnell ran the second-fastest 400 hurdle time in school history to record a fifth-place finish. The freshman clocked a 1:06.62 in her first outdoor meet. 

Laurel McMahon performed well in the unseeded heat of the 5000m, earning fourth place. Her time of 19:02.86 is the ninth fastest in school history. 

The next meet for the Cardinals will begin on April 5 as they travel to George Mason for the Dalton Ebanks Invite. The first event is set to start at 10 am.