TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian University junior sprinter Crystal Robinson and sophomore jumper Lexi Groff have been selected as the Landmark Conference Women's Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week for their performances last weekend.
Robinson was the runner-up in the 200-meter dash at the Muhlenberg College Invitational in an All-Atlantic Region Track & Field qualifying time of 25.34 seconds, which would be 21st on the Track & Field Results Reporting System list nationally but Robinson is already tied for 10th on the list with a better time from the Lafayette Open to begin the outdoor season. Robinson also placed as the runner-up in the 400-meter dash in an AARTF qualifying time of 58.61 seconds, which is 18th on the TFRRS list. Robinson ran a leg of Moravian's 4x100-meter relay squad that won with an AARTF qualifying time of 48.39 seconds, which ranks 12th on the TFRRS list. The top 22 females in each event and the top 16 relay squads in each race on the final TFRRS list will compete in the 2022 NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships.
"Crystal has really found her rhythm in the shorter races like the 200 and her leg of the 4x100 on Saturday that helped us to one of the top 12 times in the country in the relay," stated Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann. "She still tends to hold back and save for an enormous kick in longer races like the 400, which is something we're trying to improve on. Once she does that, she can approach our school record. The first 75m of her 400 on Saturday was the most aggression we've seen from her in that event yet, and it's part of the reason she set a PR in the 400m on Saturday. Crystal has had an incredible first two meets so far, but we all know she still has a lot more to achieve in the next two months."
Groff took first in the high jump at an AARTF qualifying height of 1.65 meters (5-5), which is also a PR and ties the school record set by Melissa Cheong in 2015. Groff's height is tied for tenth in the nation on the TFRRS list.
"Lexi was disappointed at the end of indoors when she didn't quite get the bar she needed for NCAAs," Baumann said. "However, one thing we discussed was when you're showing a lot of consistency at a certain height, in her case right around 5'3"-5'4" range, you know you're on the cusp of breaking through to the next level. Saturday was an example of that, setting a PR in just her second meet of the year and with nearly two months to go, we're confident she'll have a meet where she hits the 1.68m bar she'll likely need to make NCAAs this May."
The Greyhounds are scheduled to return to action on Friday and Saturday, April 8-9 at the Lehigh University Invitational.
