By Jacob Norling
May 8, 2024
 
(COLUMBIA, S.C.) Westmont Track and Field's Warriors will be the school's final athletes to compete this school year, with their final competition taking place on the opposite end of the country. Beginning on Wednesday morning in Columbia, South Carolina, the Warriors competed in day one of the National Christian College Athletics Association Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.
 
Noella Breytenbach, Miranda Irwin, and Madalyn Hofman had the honor of beginning the festivities on day one, with all three Warriors taking part in the first four events of the women's heptathlon. At day's end, Hofman was Westmont's top competitor, with the sophomore sitting in fifth place with 2,137 points. Irwin ended the day in sixth (2,035), while Breytenbach finished the day in ninth (1,948) out of 13 athletes. Leading the heptathlon at the end of four events was York's Makayla Dinkler, with 2,426 points.
 
While Westmont's MayTerm students on Wednesday enjoyed a high of 71-degrees in Santa Barbara, Westmont's athletes in South Carolina were tasked with competing on a 91-degree day in Columbia, with a humidity-high of 82%.
 
For Hofman, she started the morning with a huge spark, finishing with the day's fastest time in the 100 meter hurdles (16.56). After finishing in the middle of the pack in both the high jump and shot put, Hofman finished her day with a 27.40 200 meter dash, which was fourth-fastest amongst competitors.
 
When asked to reflect on the experience of day one, Hofman laughed and said, "It is really hot out here, but it has been so fun. We all killed it today. We understand we are a select few out of the entire track team, and we feel very blessed to be here."
 
Hofman continued, "Today, my hundred-meter hurdles and 200 meter dash were really great. I PR'd in both, which is always super exciting to experience. Tomorrow, I'm excited for the long jump as well as the 800, knowing that we're all about to leave it on the line."
 
For Irwin, the Spokane C.C.-transfer experienced her most success in the shot put, where her best mark of 8.87m was fourth-highest on the leaderboard. Irwin also finished top-five in the 100 meter hurdles (16.56), and ended the day with the sixth-best time in the 200 (27.93).
 
"It's been an awesome experience already," offered Irwin. "The humidity has been rough, but it's been a blast to compete so far. Today was not my best, and I'm dealing with a lot of things that I'm feeling in just about every event. Still, I'm excited for tomorrow, especially the javelin and the 800 to see what we can do."
 
In Breytenbach's case, she peaked during the heart of the event, with top-three finishes in both the high jump and shot put. In the high jump, the freshman came in third with a clearance of 1.48m, before she finished atop the leaderboard in the shot put, after a personal-best mark of 10.05m.
 
"We all feel really fortunate to be out here," assured Breytenbach. "We understand that this is a blessing to get to do this, and we are very lucky."
 
Breytenbach later on offered, "What's special about our little pod here with the three of us, is we all have different strengths and weaknesses. So when you're having a bad event you don't have to dwell on it. You can cheer on the others and experience their joy. That's a lot better than fixating on what's going wrong with you.
 
"We all had different highs and lows, but it all spread out throughout the day. For me, hitting 10 in the shot put was amazing. I didn't think I'd get a chance to do that all season."
 
When asked what stood out from day one, Westmont coach Derek Masterson said, "Our freshman, Noella Breytenbach. She had a lifetime-best in the shot put, a season-best in the high jump, and so she's already ahead of where she's been this season. Then Maddie controlled what she could control, she PR'd in the hurdles, PR'd in the 200, and held her own in the other two. Then for Miranda, I'm proud of her for battling. It's been a tough season for her at times, but she continues to fight. It's a testament to her being a Warrior."
 
The heptathlon will conclude with its final three events on Thursday, beginning with the long jump at 9:15 a.m. EST. Along with the women's multi-trio, Westmont will also have athletes competing in seven other events on Thursday, including program-record holder Jaiden Rodrigues in the 100 meter dash. Links to Westmont's full schedule as well as live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.