Competing from Thursday through Saturday, the Wildcats took part in five meets that lasted a total of eight meet days in four Los Angeles-area cities — L.A. itself, Long Beach just south of L.A., Azusa just west of L.A. and La Verne just west of Azusa.

NMU sophomore and Manistique graduate Danielle Lund had probably the single biggest highlight of the weekend, setting a school record and winning the shot put on Thursday at the Cal State-Los Angeles Twilight Invitational in L.A. proper. Her heave of 13.69 meters (44 feet, 11 inches) was not only her personal best, but a Wildcats record, exceeding the 13.38 meters (43-10 3/4) established by Angela Leckson in 2010.

Lund also finished second in the discus at the same meet on the same day with 44.99 meters (147-7 1/4).

These Northern team members return to true spring conditions in Marquette and will go on a much shorter trip to suburban Green Bay in De Pere, Wisconsin, on Saturday for the St. Norbert Invitational. Following that will be next week’s GLIAC Outdoor Championships set for downstate Allendale from Wednesday through Friday, April 29-May 1.

Here is a breakdown of the Wildcats’ California odyssey, listed by day:

Thursday

Seven NMU athletes were entered at four meets in the quartet of L.A.-area venues, which included Lund at the Twilight Invite.

At the Leopard Invite hosted by the University of La Verne in La Verne, Northern senior Dani Van Lente finished 10th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11 minutes, 21.56 seconds.

At the Bryan Clay Invite at Azusa Pacific in Azusa, Wildcat seniors Sophia Potter and Madi Szymanski both ran the 10,000, though in separate races. Potter finished sixth in her field of 28 competitors in 36:12.57, while Szymanski’s time was 37:31.57.

And at the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate hosted by Long Beach State in Long Beach, NMU senior Teiolla Harvey was 15th in the javelin with a throw of 35.11 meters (115-2 1/4), while junior and Marquette Senior High School product Baux Truckey was 36th in a field of more than 60 runners in the 400 in 57.53 seconds. In addition, Northern sophomore Alayna Vandegriff competed in the triple jump.

Friday

The Wildcats pared their participation to two meets on their middle day, the Bryan Clay at Azusa and Leopard Invite at La Verne.

Sophomore Ella DeBruyn had NMU’s top finish at the Leopard, running a personal best and third-place finish of 4:35.60 in the 1,500, particularly impressive as the field included 71 runners.

And freshman teammate Ashley Choponis was seventh in the same race in 4:40.83.

At the Bryan Clay, Vandegriff was 21st among 37 scorers in the triple jump by leaping 11.31 meters (37-1 1/4), while senior Beverly Harper and junior Lamar Gordon competed in separate 800 runs. Harper clocked 2:11.81 for 57th in her race, while Gordon timed 2:14.41 for 49th in hers.

Another trio of Northern runners ran the 5,000 on this day, each in their own race. Potter finished in 17:19.08, Szymanski in 17:31.53 and Van Lente in 18:18.53.

Saturday

The Wildcats were also at two meets on the final day, the third day of the Bryan Clay in Azusa and the one-day Long Beach Invite at Long Beach.

Gordon had this day’s highlight at the Bryan Clay, finishing in 4:30.74 in the 1,500 to miss the NMU record of 4:30.67 by less than a tenth of a second while finishing 16th in a huge field of 188.

Choponis was 99th in 4:39.86, while DeBruyn was right next to her in 101st in 4:40.23.

Also at the Bryan Clay, Lund had another high finish in the shot put, seventh in a field of more than 30 with 13.00 meters (42-7 7/8). And she was 16th in the discus with a toss of 41.74 meters (136-11 3/8).

Harvey was ninth in the javelin with a throw of 37.39 meters (122-8), while Truckey came in 42nd in a field of 85 in the 200 in 24.845.

At Long Beach, Harper was Northern’s lone representative as she finished 12th in the 800 in 2:21.64.

Story contents based on Northern Michigan University Sports Information press releases reviewing the meets. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.