Nicklaw places second in high jump, women in fifth after day one of MIAA Field Day

Led by Heather Nicklaw's (Springport) second-place finish in the high jump, the Olivet College women's track and field team sits in fifth-place after the first day of the 2011 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Field. The Olivet men failed to score any team points in the five events, which had finals today. The two-day event concludes tomorrow on the Kolassa Track and inside the Cutler Athletic Complex, with field events starting at 10 a.m. and running event finals at 1:30 p.m.

Nicklaw along with Calvin's Rebekah Van Dyk cleared the bar at 5 feet, 2.25 inches, but Nicklaw was awarded the runner-up finish based on the number of attempts to clear the heights. Also scoring team points for the Olivet women were Cassandra Ciaravino (Lapeer/East) and Sara Wegener (Lansing/Lansing Catholic). Ciaravino was seventh in the long jump with a school-record leap of 16 feet, 7 inches. Wegener placed seventh in the hammer throw with a school-record toss of 118 feet, 7 inches.

Four women will also compete in the finals of running events after posting top eight finishes in today's preliminaries. Sarah Caldwell (Bronson) posted the fastest time in the 400-meter dash at 59.87 seconds. Liz Stewart (Vermontville/Maple Valley) will also run in the finals of the 400, as she was sixth fastest at 1:01.99.

Becca Gaarde (Parma/Western) qualified for the finals in three events. She was second fastest in the 200-meter dash (27.05), fourth fastest in the 100-meter dash (13.43) and eighth-fastest in the 100-meter hurdles (17.15). Joining Gaarde in the 100 hurdles finals will be Cairavino who had the fifth quickest time at 16.77 seconds.