Caroline Ehrhardt made the longest jump of her life at the Meyo Invitational meet on the weekend at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

Competing for the Western Mustangs for her second year, the Track North alumni and Espanola native won the triple jump event out of 28 competitors in the final round. She was the only Canadian in the field and showed incredible poise and competitive spirit through the preliminary and final rounds, according to a press release from Western.

Ehrhardt was sitting in first place after qualifying for the final three rounds with a 12.66-metre second-round jump. Western's  Alicia Smith also qualified for the triple jump final and sat in sixth place with a 12.29-m jump. Prior to the sixth and final round of competition, Ehrhardt had been bumped to second place by Michigan State's Tori Franklin who jumped 12.85m in the fifth round. Smith took her sixth jump recording a lifetime best and Western record of 12.76m to move into second place. 

Up next was Kelcey McKinney from Ohio State. McKinney jumped 12.82m to move both Smith and Ehrhardt to third and fourth place respectively. Up last was Ehrhardt and showing her experience and competitiveness, recorded a leap of 12.94m, her lifetime best and taking back her Western record. Ehrhardt and Smith are now numbers one and two in the CIS rankings.

This is the 25th year for the Meyo event and is considered one of the most competitive and prestigious meets in the NCAA division. Dozens of universities from the United States, including the top Midwest schools such as Louisville, Missouri State, Notre Dame, Purdue and Indiana, compete in deep fields where the competition level is extremely high, a press release stated.

Posted by Laurel Myers