Dillon Hogan/Winonan
The Winona State University track and field team competed in the Central College open in Pella, Iowa on Saturday, April 20, and at the Phil Esten Challenge in La Crosse, Wis. on the following day.
Over the course of the two meets the Warriors secured victories in six events and five Warriors scored NCAA provisional qualifying marks en route to a second place finish as a team.
The Warriors last competition in snowy weather resulted in eight wins in the Warrior Open and Multi on April 13-14. Prior to this meet the Warriors had won a total of 63 events this season with 22 different Warriors winning these events.
Leading the way for the Warriors with both a win in her event and a score which satisfies the qualification for NCAA Championships provisional times was Sarah Finley clocking in a time of 12 minutes, 04 seconds in the 100-meter race.
Hannah Muller also added herself to the NCAA championship provisional talks with a qualifying mark in the long jump after her leap of 18-11 1/4 which not only met qualifying marks, but also gave Muller the win in the event. Finley joins three other Warriors who have achieved qualification marks, a group that already includes Muller who alongside Alissa Rausch in the shot put and Shanai Guider in the discus.
The Warrior runners also claimed victories in three other events during the day. Anna Blaske was the victor in the 100-meter hurdle race, finishing with a time of 14.51. Kelsey Bethke won her event finishing the 400-meter race with a time of 57.31. Rounding out the wins for the Warriors was Jordan Skelly who finished first in the 5000-meter race clocking in at a time of 18:13.02.
The Warriors who competed in the Phil Esten Challenge finished second overall as a team finishing the day with 93 points, behind only the hosting team Wisconsin-La Crosse who won the meet after scoring 110 points.
“The outdoor season is going well,” Kelsey Bethke said. “We are a little frustrated with the weather and hope that that soon improves for us. I think we are all seeking to improve in our events through each meet. I can’t speak for all the other events, but I know that for our 4X4 relay we really want to improve our time a lot, and so hopefully that time will come soon.”
Down in Pella, Iowa, the throwers from the Warriors team had an equal amount of success. Alissa Rausch won the shot put event with a throw of 14.36 meters which also earned her an NCAA Championship provisional mark.
Shanai Guider gave the Warriors their second event win in the discus with a throw of 49.23 meters also earning her a provisional mark. Rausch earned her second provisional mark of the day in the discus as well, after throwing for 48.82 meters.
The Warriors had a trio who were just shy of reaching NCAA provisional marks in the hammer throw after Megan Elliott finished third, Guider coming in fourth, and Kassi Kamps placing fifth.
The Warriors will next be in action this upcoming week with a very busy schedule. The team will be participating in the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, the Kip Janverin Open in Indianola, Iowa, the Cardinal Open in Winona, and the NSIC Multi-Event Championships in Aberdeen, S.D.
Contact Dillon at [email protected]
