PHILADELPHIA – The journey was fraught with nerves, but the end result was the same: the TCNJ women's track and field team are NJAC indoor champions once again.

The Lions held off a strong challenge from Rowan to claim their seventh consecutive title at the NJAC Indoor Championship, getting critical performances from a pair of high jumpers and a trio of distance runners to overtake the Profs in a thrilling trophy chase that went all the way to the wire.
 
TCNJ finished with 179 team points, just enough to narrowly outpace Rowan's 173.5.
 
The Profs held a 155.5-146.5 lead with three events to go, but did not have an entrant in the triple jump. TCNJ had two, and both came up big: Brooke Valan finished second and Erin McGauley placed fourth.
 
That was enough to put TCNJ in front, 158-155.5, leaving the 3000 meters as the all-important battleground. The Profs and Lions each had three of the top-7, but TCNJ got the better of it with Ava Biemuller edging out a Rowan runner by just over a second for third place. Cassidy Quinn took fifth, and Naesha Gadie crossed the line 1.74 seconds ahead of another Prof for sixth.
 
Those points proved critical, giving the Lions a 7.5-point cushion heading into the final event, the 4x400 relay. As long as the Lions finished, they would be champions, but the small swings in points in the 3k race were even more important when Rowan edged out the Lions for first place in a battle of two units that posted top-15 national times. It was all moot, though, and Justin Lindsey and company were able to breathe a sigh of relief and lift another trophy.
 
Jessica Reilly, in the weight throw, was the Lions' lone champion of the weekend, but the team's high-end depth was just enough. On Sunday, Eliza Bruncaj claimed two individual silver medals, while Kelly O'Grady and Rukky Daranijo each grabbed one individual medal and one relay medal.
 
Biemuller and Quinn were medalists in separate distance events, while Sarah Scepkowski had two bronze medals to cap a terrific all-around performance at the indoor championships.
 
MEDAL WINNERS

• Reilly won her first career conference gold medal with a heave of 15.52 meters in the weight throw, with Kerri McCarthy taking bronze at a personal-best 15.04 meters
• Bruncaj was runner-up in the 60-meter hurdles, crossing in 9.20 seconds to headline a 2-3-4 finish that also included Mackenzie Burke (9.60) and Scepkowski (9.69)
• Bruncaj also won silver in the long jump with a season-best leap of 5.22 meters
• Daranijo took silver in the 400-meter dash, finishing in a season-best time of 58.31 seconds
• O'Grady finished second with a personal-best 2:16.83 in the 800 meters
• The 4x400 relay unit of Daranijo, Burke, O'Grady, and Brenna Omert finished second with a time of 3:54.96, good for 15^th in Division III
• Valan was runner-up in the triple jump at 10.83 meters
• Quinn placed third in the mile with a personal-best 5:10.92
• Biemuller (personal-best 10:34.72), Quinn (10:43.21), and Gaedie (10:47.07) finished 3-5-6 in the 3000 meters
• Scepkowski earned bronze in the high jump with a clearance of 1.53 meters

OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES – TRACK

• Omert was fourth in the 400 (58.88)
• Erin Hanlon (2:22.98) and Alex Grivas (2:26.19) were place-winners in the 800, taking fourth and eighth overall
• Burke (26.03) and Bruncaj (26.13) placed fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 200-meter dash
• Ella Daly was fifth in the 5000 meters with a career-best 19:01.68, while Savannah Hodgens was sixth (19:14.48) and Alyssa Maybeck seventh (19:17.49)

OTHER TOP PERFORMANCES – FIELD

• Bruncaj placed fourth in the high jump (1.43 meters) and Petra Doherty was eighth (1.38 meters)
• Scepkowski placed eighth in the long jump (4.81 meters)