Senior Joya Canfield won her heat and set an HPU record in the 1,000-meter and sophomore Manika Gamble set and HPU record in the 200-meter at the Virginia Tech Challenge on Friday night in Blacksburg, Va.

"Our women's team did very well," said HPU head coach Mike Esposito. "All three of our runners in the 1,000 had their best times and Manika ran very well in her events. It was a nice prep for the Big South Championship."

Canfield ran a time of 2:54.76 to break Sumiyya Hunter's school record of 2:55.59 set in 2006. Canfield finished ninth overall. Freshman Vanessa Piacente and senior Geneva Winterink also broke 3:00 in the 1,000-meter, running 2:57.04 and 2:59.26, respectively.

"All I thought about was winning the race," said Canfield.

Gamble's 200-meter time of 25.04 broke Kandi Givner's HPU record of 25.36 set in 2008. She won her heat and placed 12th overall in the event.

"I went for it. I was really happy with the result," said Gamble.

In the 60-meter hurdles, Gamble ran a time of 8.74 in the preliminaries to tie her season best. In the finals, she ran a time of 8.75, outleaning Chidimma Uche of Virginia for fifth place. Gamble also placed 15th in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.88.

Sophomore Lora Robinson also competed in the 60 dash (8.40) and 200-meter (27.08).

In the field events, Rachel Webb placed 13th in the pole vault with a height of 9'10, Joy Hunt took 16th in the weight throw with a toss of 42'7.5. Freshman Lynee Pina also competed in the weight throw, taking 18th with a distance of 36'5.5.

The Virginia Tech Challenge continues on Saturday starting at 11 a.m. HPU will have competitors in the 800-meter, mile, 5,000-meter and shot put.