PALO ALTO, Calif. – The St. Francis 4×400-meter relay capped off two days at the Stanford Invitational with a third-place finish, placing second overall in their heat. The foursome of Lilly Enes, Kiani Reyna, Elizabeth Hennessy and Ariane Arndt clocked a time of 3:57.44, ranking third on the all-time performance chart.

Enes and Reyna also ran in the individual 400 meters with both earning season-best times. Enes won her heat and was 17th overall in 58.74, while Reyna posted a 61.20 to place 27^th.

“It was OK, said Enes after her race. “It was my PR for this year but I was trying to get a second faster. I could have gotten out faster. It means I am making improvement and I am coming back. I am on my way.”

The day opened with the 4×100-meter relay placing sixth in 49.27 with a foursome of Reyna, Arndt, Enes and Meaghan Rogers.

Nicole Spring participated in the long jump on Friday (27th, 15-4) and triple jump on Saturday (18th, 34-11). Hennessy was 21st in the 400-meter hurdles (69.79) on Friday.

The Distance Medley Relay (Chase Worthen, Sydney Vandegridt, Sophie DeBenedetti and Arndt) had a strong performance on Friday, clocking a 12:26.20, the second-fastest performance in school history in the event. The race consists of four legs (1200-400-800-1600).

“It felt good,” said Worthen, who had the opening 1200m leg. “I had no idea where we were going to be. I went out and tried to stay with the leaders and close the gap as time went on. I knew we were going to have a good second, third and fourth leg.”

Arndt, who ran in all three relays, blistered the 400 meters, putting St. Francis in lead.

“Chase was neck and neck with the other two girls,” said Arndt. “When I go the baton, I had to get them and when I got to the corner I had my eyes on the finish line.”

DeBenedetti ran the 800 led and kept the lead.

“I got excited when I got it (the baton),” said freshmen DeBenedetti. “It kept making me go faster. Since Ariane got the lead, I knew I had to keep it for Syd because I knew she was going to need to push it hard. It went well.”

Vandegrift ran the third 800m and kept the lead.

“Sophie and everyone gave me a good lead and I just tried to keep it as much as possible,” said Vandegrift, who led the Troubadours to the heat win. “It is pretty fun to win a race at this meet.”

St. Francis alumnae Lauren LaRocco ‘14 and Peyton Bilo ‘15 also participated for their schools at the meet with the pair each earning NCAA Regional qualifying times. LaRocco, who runs for Portland, won her heat of the 10,000 meters in a school-record time of 33:15. while Bilo, a standout for Cal Poly, was eighth in her heat of the 5K in 16:13.

St. Francis Results

Friday, April 1

400h – 21, Elizabeth Hennessy, 69.79.        

Distance Medley Relay - 10, St. Francis (Worthen, Vandegrift, DeBenedetti, Arndt), 12:26.20.

Long Jump – 27, Nicole Spring, 15-4.    

Saturday, April 2

Triple Jump – 18, Nicole Spring, 34-11. 

4 x 100 Relay – 6, St. Francis (Reyna. Arndt, Enes, Rogers), 49.27.

400 – 17, Lillian Enes, 58.74. 27, Kiani Reyna, 61.20.

4 x 400 relay – 3, St. Francis (Enes, Reyna, Hennessy, Arndt), 3:57.44.