Arola breaks her own school record in 400-meter dash

caption (Josh Kleven/TommieMedia file photo)
Arola broke her own school record in the 400-meter dash Wednesday at Concordia University. (Josh Kleven/TommieMedia file photo)

Senior Nikki Arola ran a 56.28 second 400-meter dash Wednesday at Concordia University to break her own school record.

Arola’s time is the fourth best in Division III this season.

“It felt amazing to break my school record, especially with the end of my career so quickly approaching,” Arola said. “It’s nice to see all the hard work I’ve put in pay off in one race.”

Arola said she wasn’t expecting a lot going into the race after feeling poorly that morning and having not run the 400-meter in a couple of weeks. But she said she was excited to try out a new approach to running the race she had worked on with her coach.

“Apparently this new approach worked,” she said.

St. Thomas also posted a 48.09 in the 4×100 relay, which stands as the eighth-best time in Division III this season.

Junior Megan Honan won the hammer, sophomore Felisha Willaert took second in the discus, and senior Molly Demmer and sophomore Jenna Ewing took second and third in the 100-meter dash.

Jordan Osterman can be reached at jrosterman@stthomas.edu