Dillon Hogan/Winonan

In the biggest indoor meet of the season, the Warriors track and field team came away with an impressive finish which included a record broken and a second place finish overall as a team. Over a two-day period, Feb. 22 to the 23, the Warriors ran in Mankato for the NSIC Indoor Championships.

As a team the Warriors placed second overall among all the teams with a total point score of 130 points, being bested only by the University of Mary who managed to win the event with a finishing score of 185 points.

In an astonishing performance the Warriors 4×400 meter relay team consisting of runners Kelsey Bethke, Katie Bagley, Brittney Rynda and Catherine Whitcomb ran their way to a time of 3:35.30, setting a new conference record in the process and bringing back home a league title for the Warriors.

The other event win for the Warriors came in the shot put by way of Alissa Rausch. Rausch claimed the throwing victory with a final throw of 15.01 meters, joining the 4×400 relay team with a victory.

Despite only winning two events the Warriors had strong races in nearly every category. The Warriors had three second place finishes and twelve top five finishes to go along with the victories in the earlier two events.

Of the three-second place finishers Jessica Young claimed the first of the second place finishes in the 5000-meter race with a finishing time of 17:42.47 minutes.

Sarah Finley finished second in the 200-meter race with a final time of 25.35 seconds while Bethke was right behind Finley for a third place finish.  Bethke also took second place in the 400-meter race with a final time of 57.13 seconds.

The Warriors had three of the top five finishers in that race with Catherine Whitcomb finishing in fourth and Brittney Rynda placing fifth.

In the long distance runs Katie Bagley finished fifth in the 500-meter, Ashton Lamp secured a fourth place finish in the 800-meter and Anna Blaske placed sixth in the 60-meter hurdles race.

The Warriors competed as strongly in the field events as they did in the running events. Megan Elliot led the team with a third place finish in the weight throw while Shanai Guider and Elisa Moenkedick finished fourth and sixth respectively. Rynda also competed in the event section and ended her impressive day with a seventh place finish in the triple jump.

Concluding the events of the meet Kelsey Bethke feels the team is going to be prepared for the upcoming championship.

“We have been working hard at practice and doing everything we can to be ready for nationals, and as we continue to practice for the next few weeks I think we will be ready to run our fastest when the time comes,” said Bethke. “We are preparing for them through practice each day in our workouts and taking care of our bodies both mentally and physically. As we continue to taper in our workouts, the goal is to get us prepared to feel strong and ready to give the race everything we have.”

The Warriors will be in action again March 8 in Birmingham, Ala. for the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Contact Dillon at [email protected]