Molly Wise breaks school record in the long jump

Junior Molly Wise broke the University of Richmond’s record in the long jump at Liberty University’s Brant Tolsma Invitational on Jan. 24 and 25.

Wise achieved a personal-best mark of 6.15 meters, winning the event and surpassing the previous school record of 6.13 meters set by graduate student Alicia Dawson just last season. 

“It's something I got to see my teammate do last year and I’ve always tried to hold myself to the same standard, ” Wise said. “I was definitely happy to crush that out at the beginning of the season.” 

This was the first time that Wise has set a personal-best mark on her sixth jump of the event. 

“I’ve been working on jump conditioning to make sure I can get through all six jumps, preliminaries, and finals,” Wise said. “I think PR-ing on the sixth jump is a testament to what we’re doing in practice.”

Wise now holds the best mark in the Atlantic 10 Conference. 

“I’m very happy to be at the top, and I’ll definitely be fighting to stay there the rest of the season,” Wise said. “I never want to underestimate any of my opponents. I competed against some amazing jumpers last year.”

Several Spiders also recorded personal bests in their events. 

Sophomore Gabrielle Cummings had a successful showing, placing fifth out of 90 runners in the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 24.92.

Sophomore Mollie Fenn had a strong performance, placing third in the 5,000 meter with a personal-best time of 17:41.11.

“My last two performances have set me up really well for the season,” Fenn said. “ I've had an amazing season and training block.”

The Spiders are approaching the middle of the indoor track season. The Atlantic 10 Championship will be hosted Feb. 28 in Virginia Beach, Va. before UR begins the outdoor season on March 21. 

The track and field team’s next meet will be the Penn State National Open, on Jan. 31 through Feb. 1. 

Contact sports editor Abigail Finney at abigail.finney@richmond.edu.