Competing in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Championship for the first time, the Viking women's track & field team had an impressive inaugural showing with a third place finish in the field of 13 teams.

GV scored 116 team points and finished behind winner Benedictine (Kan.) (133.5 points) and runner-up MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) (128 points).

Sophomore Jennifer Davis (Clemons, Iowa) won the shot put in an NAIA 'A' national qualifying distance of 13.39m. Davis was also third in the weight throw with a toss of 15.11m and voted as the Heart Women's Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.

Senior Amber Jones (Lee's Summit, Mo.) was champion in the weight throw in NAIA 'A' national qualifying mark of 16.22m. Junior Taylor Wells (Des Moines, Iowa) was the weight throw runner-up with a throw of 15.66m.

On the track, sophomore Ronnoja Ayers (Des Moines, Iowa) was the 200m dash champion (26.37) and took second in the 400m dash (59.81) while freshman Sydney LaFrentz (Urbandale, Iowa) was runner-up in the 60m hurdles with an NAIA 'B' national qualifying and school record time of 9.09 seconds.

Other highlights included third place finishes in the 600m by junior Katie Roberts (Ankeny, Iowa) who ran the race in 1:40.58 and a third place finish by the 4x400m relay team of Ayers, sophomore Kennedy King (Davenport, Iowa), freshman Lydia Van Ee (Otley, Iowa) and Roberts which finished in 4:10.37.

The Vikings next compete at the Wartburg Invitational February 20 in Waverly.