ROCHESTER, NY – Three stellar races highlighted the TCNJ Women's Track and Field's performance on the final day at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships Saturday.

The Lions finished the 2023 National Championships tied for 21st place, scoring 10 points as a team in one of the best overall performances in recent years.

Kicking off championship Saturday for the Lions, the 4x100 relay team of Ashlyn MacLure, Maria Grill, Victoria Purritano and Valandra Riggins finished sixth with a time of 46.92. The quartet scored three points and becomes the highest NCAA relay finish for the blue and gold since the 4x400 relay team placed fifth during the 2021 outdoor season

The program record holder in the 400m Hurdles, Eliza Bruncaj put together a stellar race out on lane seven in the event finals. The sophomore crossed the finish line in fourth place with a time of 1:00.29 to score five points, and just missing out on bronze by a mere eight-hundredths of a second. Bruncaj's time represents the third-fastest of her career, and comes two days after she broke her own school record in the prelims.

She becomes an individual All-American for the second time in her career, having placed eighth in the Pentathlon during the Indoor National Championship meet earlier this season.

The sophomore also becomes the highest individual women's NCAA finisher on the track since Sam Gorman placed fifth in the 400 meter dash back in the 2019 season.  

Closing out the championships in the final event of the weekend, the 4x400 relay team put together a strong time of 3:49.28 to finish in seventh place and scoring the final two points. Leading off, Megan Gasnick got the relay team started before Bruncaj and Allison Uhl ran strong legs in the middle portion of the race. Getting the baton as the anchor, Grill closed out the Lions season by crossing the finish line in seventh place.

The Lions finished the Championship meet placing all seven of its student-athletes on the podium as All-Americans.