GENEVA, Ohio - Daemen College long distance runner Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) took a big step this weekend towards earning an invitation for the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championships as she hit the provisional qualifying time for the 5,000-meter run at the SPIRE Indoor Track and Field Challenge.

Donahue topped an 11-participant field and established a new team record by completing the race in 17:15.05, shaving 30 seconds off her seed time of 17:45.00.  The 5,000-meter run provisional qualifying time for the NCAA Division II National Championships is 17:28.78, and by beating that mark this weekend, Donahue has put herself in contention for an invitation to the national championship meet which will take place in Pittsburg, Kansas from March 11-12.  Runners with the top 16 recorded times across the country will ultimately qualify.  Donahue's time this weekend ranks her 12th in the country presently.

Donahue's performance accounted for 10 of Daemen's 47 points in the meet which placed them firmly in sixth place in the team standings (out of 15 competing teams).  But, she wasn't the only runner to excel in the 5,000 meters as her teammate Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst), the previous team record holder in the event, earned eight points as the race runner-up, coming in with a time of 18:22.05.  Also, sophomore Ashley Cheff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) finished fourth in the same event, earning five more points to make it a 23-point event for the Wildcats.

Another team record fell in the pole vault competition as freshman Kyra Kress (Wayland, N.Y./Alfred-Almond Central) eclipsed her own mark which she set in her collegiate debut two weeks ago.  Kress cleared 3.05 meters today, besting the previous mark of 2.80 meters, earning her a second-place finish and eight points.

Getting in on the record-breaking day was freshman sprinter Tiffany Cycon (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster).  Cycon ran her 60-meter dash preliminary heat in a team record time of 8.18 seconds, which earned her a spot in the finals where she finished 10th (8.24 seconds).

Additional point-scorers for the Wildcats this weekend included thrower Ellory Roberts (Lowville, N.Y./Lowville) and a trio of middle distance runners - Brittany Denton (Oakfield, N.Y./Oakfield-Alabama), Rebekah Zee (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and Lindsey Wood (Newfield, N.Y./Newfield).  Roberts earned three points for her sixth-place finish in the weight throw (10.38 meters).  Denton (2:27.79), Zee (2:29.15) and Wood (2:29.18) finished sixth, seventh and eighth respectively in the 800-meter run, earning a combined six points.

Morgan Urbanek (Webster, N.Y./Webster Schroeder) picked up three points for a sixth-place finish in the 3,000-meter run, crossing the finish line in 11:31.25.

The Wildcats' 4x400-meter relay squad consisting of Wood, Zee, Denton and Brooke Nolan (Depew, N.Y./Depew) rounded out the scoring with a seventh-place finish (4:22.02) to earn a pair of points.

Daemen will return to action next Saturday, February 13 at the Colgate Class of '32 Invitational.