The Ursinus College women's track and field team was in contention for a top-three finish until the last couple events at the Centennial Conference indoor championship.
As the scene shifts to the outdoor meet, the Bears hope to take the next step and make that dream a reality.
Ursinus brings a squad loaded with medal contenders to the CC outdoor championship, which gets underway Friday at Muhlenberg and continues throughout the weekend. The Bears finished seventh last season, but with a deeper and more balanced outfit at their disposal, they are taking aim at a return to the top three for the first time since 2012.
A primer of the championship, broken down by each day's events:
Friday
The first day of the championship is also its lightest, with only a handful of events dotting the schedule. Ursinus will look to grab points right off the bat with the pole vault, where senior Morgan Cope enters as the third seed and should challenge for a place on the podium. Cope, who placed fifth at last year's outdoor meet, broke the indoor school record during the winter and comes in with a top mark of 10-6.75 from the UC Outdoor Invitational.
The Bears have three entrants for the hammer throw, each of whom figures to contend for a place. Senior Mikaela Bordonaro finished seventh a year ago and is seeded sixth, while junior Sophia Simoes is eighth and freshman Zenya Yanoff is ninth.
Freshman Lauren Ferguson competes in the 10,000 meters to complete the evening proceedings.
Saturday
Freshman Rachel Conhoff gets the team started in the steeplechase, where she is seeded 14th.
Sophomore Gianna Speranza aims to improve upon last year's seventh-place showing in the high jump, entering the competition seeded eighth (4-9.75).
Freshman Rosie Cuomo is seeded fifth in the 100-meter hurdles (16.43), and senior Brittany Gasser is the fifth seed in the 400-meter dash (1:00.41). Gasser, a three-year member of the softball team, will be competing in her first CC outdoor championship.
Freshman Kate Hunt has a prime opportunity to make her mark in the 100-meter dash, coming in as the third seed with a top time of 12.65, just over a tenth of a second behind top-seeded Jessica Lopez of Haverford. Speranza (13.00) and sophomore Molly Rodebaugh (13.18) are pegged 10th and 11th, respectively, and could crack the top-eight to earn points.
Ursinus could see a pair of place winners in the long jump, where Speranza is fifth (16-5.25) and senior Caroline Buckley is eighth (16-1.75).
Simoes is back in action in the discus, entering as the sixth seed (107-4) and looking to crack the point-scoring range after finishing ninth last year. Sophomore Vikki Rueda-Juarez (102-10) goes off as the 11th seed.
Sophomore Rachel Coleman will represent the Bears in the 200-meter dash, going in seeded sixth with a mark of 26.33.
The day concludes with the running of the 4x800-meter relay.
Sunday
The final day of the championship kicks off with the javelin, a potential source of points for the Bears. Bordonaro (107-11) is slotted sixth, with sophomore Neve Durrwachter in eighth (104-1) and Yanoff in ninth (102-1).
Ursinus will fancy its chances of medaling in the 4x100-meter relay, where Speranza, Rachel Coleman, Rodebaugh, and Hunt come in with the third-fastest seed time at 49.92, less than half a second off Swarthmore's conference-leading mark.
Buckley placed fifth in the triple jump at last year's meet and is seeded there again with a season-best of 34-11.
Simoes finished eighth in the shot put a year ago but plans on bettering that this time around. The junior is seeded fifth at 37-0.50.
The day continues with finals heats in the 100, 200, 400, and 800 before finishing up with the 4x400-meter relay. The Bears are seeded fifth in that event with a 4:07.95.