The Nicholls women’s 4×400-meter relay team, comprised of Kreyshelle Rolle, Jackie White, Ashley Johnson and Barlitra Dirance won the only gold medal for the Colonels at the McNeese Cowboy Invite on Friday the 13th by placing first with a time of 4:03.68.

This is the first team medal the women have won this year. Their time for the event is the 10th best mark in school history.

According to coach Heather Van Norman, the ladies applied their best effort to the race.

“This was their first meet coming back from the break, so it shows me that they actually put in work during the holidays.”

The women on the relay were just as satisfied.

“We really wanted to have a good time, and once the baton was handed to me I felt confident that we would achieve this because Kreyshelle, who was our first leg, gave us a pretty good lead,” White said.

Coach Van Norman, who was recently hired as the new track and field coach, added that all the credit goes to the girls who ran the relay.

“Relays bring four individuals together, whether they like it or not. These four individuals came together in a good way and were able to accomplish something great.”

Ingvild Vedde and Rolle were the highest individual finishers of the day, as Vedde placed second in the 1-mile run, while Rolle earned silver in the 55-meter dash.

Vedde came in at 5:14.40, five seconds behind the first place finisher. Rolle, who had the fourth fastest time in the preliminaries, crossed the finish line in 7.47 seconds, just .03 seconds behind first place.

The 600-meter run had Johnson cross the tape in 1:39.46, taking third place and setting the fastest time in Nicholls history for the event.

For being such a new coach, Van Norman said she is very pleased with how well the women are performing.

“I am a fresh face to these ladies,” Van Norman said. “Even though some people may take advantage of a new coach, these girls have not. They know how to train and how to be honest. This makes my job a lot easier. I am very proud of them.”

The Colonels will be back in action next week, when they will participate in the Birmingham Invitational Jan. 25-26.