Dillon Hogan/Winonan

With the season progressing rapidly, the Winona State University track and field team faced another challenge at the UW-La Crosse duel meet Friday, Feb. 15.

The Warriors finished up the meet with victories in six events and another six NCAA Indoor Championship provisional qualifying marks were met.

Senior Sarah Finley, led the victories for the Warriors. She claimed the 200-meter victory with a time of 26.01 seconds. For the Warriors’ second win, Junior Natalie Jech finished first in the 1000-meter race with a final time of 3:09.96.

Senior Anna Blaske gave the Warriors their third and final running victory with a win in the 60-meter hurdle race, finishing with a time of 9.01 seconds.

“The best way to improve is just to believe in all the work you have put in all season and know your teammates and coaches have prepared you to race those end of the season Preliminaries,” Jech said. “I think it’s also just about laying it all out on the line so when you finish you know if it wasn’t an improved time you at least gained an improvement of knowledge about how you perform and how to perform better. Every meet gives insight on how to be a better athlete.”

In the event portion of the meet, the Warriors were equally impressive. Senior Megan Elliott won the weight throw with a final toss of 18.07 meters, which was also far enough for NCAA qualifications.

Not only did Elliott win, but the Warriors claimed the top four spots in the event. Shanai Guider, Elisa Moenkedick, and Alissa Rausch placed second through fourth respectively. All four Warriors posted marks good enough for NCAA Indoor qualifications.

After an impressive performance in the weight throw, Rausch was not done yet. Rausch also won the shot put event with a throw of 14.42 meters which was also far enough to qualify her for the NCAA Indoor championships, her second qualification of the day.

Rounding out the event section of the meet, Anna Blaske also took home her second event victory of the meet by winning the long jump with a final score of 5.57 meters.

Blaske’s jump not only won her the event, but also gave her a good enough score for qualifications and gave the Warriors their sixth qualification.

After the meet, Blaske said at the conference this Friday, the competition will reach a new level and she has a couple goals of her own.

“Breaking my personal record in the hurdles of 8.90s would be a huge accomplishment for me,” Blaske said. “I am also looking to improve my long jump mark, my goal has been to jump 5.60 meters and I would be elated if I did so. Overall, I want to have fun and enjoy my last indoor meet, and the rest will fall into place. “

Going into the latter half of the season, Jech said she believes the team is in good shape.

“There have been a few bumps along the way with Injuries but everyone has been working really hard and it seems like as more weeks pass, more and more athletic accomplishments become present. This is a really talented group of girls,” Jech said.

Blaske sees the team’s strength in their increase in competitiveness.

“Each week our team is getting better,” Blaske said. “We’ve had girls from all different events dropping times and improving marks week after week. It’s exciting to see these consistent improvements, and I think that we will see some really big marks at conference this Friday.”

The next meet for the Warriors will be Feb. 22 in Mankato Minnesota for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Contact Dillon at [email protected]