Dillon Hogan/Winonan
Running at both the Cardinal Open at Saint Mary’s University and the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, the Winona State University track and field team finished first in nine events and set two new school records, despite having to split up to compensate for participating in multiple meets.
In Ames, the highlight came courtesy of the 4×400 meter relay team, which set a new school record. The team of Kelsey Bethke, Katie Bagley, Brittney Rynda, and Catherine Whitcomb ran to a time of 3:48.32. This bested the previous record of 3:50.39, which was set during last season.
While the 4×400 meter relay team ran to only a sixth place finish their time was good enough to qualify for NCAA Championship provisional qualifying.
The distance medley crew composed of Kayla Gudmundson, Katie Bagley, Ashton Lamp, and Jordan Skelly finished seventh overall and shattered the previous school record with a time of 12:11.79 which bested the former record by thirteen seconds.
With another great run in Ames, Jessica Young placed 16th in the 5000-meter race with a time of 17:57.23 minutes.
Young’s time was the third best recorded time for the 5000-meter race in school history and is just the third sub-18 minute time in Winona State’s program history.
Keeping the hot streak going, the team members participating in the Cardinal Open took first place in nine events and six Warriors posted provisional qualifying marks in a dominating showing. In the 200-meter race Sarah Finley took first place with a time of 25.76 seconds, which was also enough for the first of six NCAA qualifications.
Also winning events in the running portion of the meet was Hannah Mueller with a time of 8.46 seconds to cap off an impressive 55-meter hurdle race. Lizzie Bartow won the 400-meter race with a time of 1:02.39 whereas Natalie Jech with a time of 3:11.96 won the 1000-meter race and Jordan Paschke claimed the victory in the one-mile race with a time of 5:21.02.
In the event portion of the meet the Warriors turned in an outstanding performance. Taylor DePerry jumped to victory in the high jump with a final score of 1.63 meters and Brittany Rynda winning the triple jump with a score of 11.23 meters.
Completing the jumping section of the meet and to go along with her earlier win in the 55-meter hurdle race, Hannah Mueller also won the long jump event with a total distance of 5.53 meters which not only won the race, but was also far enough to qualify for an NCAA provisional score.
The throwers for the Warriors posted extremely impressive numbers this past weekend also. Alissa Rausch asserted victory in the shot put with a throw of 14.61 meters which also qualified Rausch for the NCAA championships.
In the weight throw, the Warriors had three members of the team qualify while finishing in the top four overall. Megan Elliott, Shanai Guider and Elisa Moenkedick finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively while all three posted provisional scores good enough to qualify.
Former Warrior All-American Jenny Schuler who was competing unattached during the meet won the weight throw title.
The Warriors are back in action next weekend at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Dual meet Feb. 15.
Contact Dillon at [email protected]
