Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

Winona State University's Newspaper since 1919

The Winonan

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Track and field competes in St. Thomas and Jack Johnson Invitationals

TJ Leverentz/Winonan

The Winona State track and field team took three events at the St. Thomas Invitational and competed in three events at the Jack Johnson Invitational Jan. 24 and 25 respectively.

The events began Friday at St. Thomas University with the St. Thomas Invitational, a meet head coach Mason Rebarchek said was full of high caliber competition.

The Warriors won three events and saw 13 top three finishes in a meet that included conference opponents Minnesota State, Mankato; University of Minnesota, Duluth and Southwest Minnesota State.

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All three of the Warriors’ wins came in field events. Hannah Mueller’s distance of 5.58 meters earned her the long jump title, Andrea Bartz’s distance of 10.85 meters won her the women’s triple jump, and Elisa Kupferschmid threw a distance of 17.16 meters to win the weighted throw.

Mueller has won both of the events in which she has competed in 2014. The nursing major has been ranked 4th in the nation in Division II long jump. Mueller holds the second best results in school history in three events; long jump, 55-meter hurdles and 60-meter hurdles.

Winona State competed at the University of Minnesota in the Jack Johnson Invitational on Jan. 25. The Warriors competed against Division I competition in three events: the 4×400 meter relay where the Warriors placed 15th, the 400-meter and the 3000-meter.

The relay team consisted of Kelsey Bethke, Ali Skluzacek, Taylor Vogel and Catherine Whitcomb. Whitcomb and Bethke also competed in the 400-meter, where Whitcomb earned a 15th place finish with a time of 58.92 and Bethke finished 17th with a time of 59.33.

The final event Winona State was represented in was the 3000-meter, where the field included three Warriors who ran cross-country in the fall.

Leading the way for the Warriors was Jordan Skelly, whose time of 10:15.46 earned her 13th. The next Warrior to cross the finish line was Jessica Young, who took 18th with a time of 10:24.40, and Jordan Paschke posted a 21st place finish with a time of 10:27.30.

“It is good going up against a higher level of competition,” Rebarchek said. He added the Warriors are more concerned with how they compete and less with time.

The Warriors will have to combat a busy schedule. Rebarchek calls the process of keeping his athletes fresh very individualized.

“Some people can handle a large amount of volume, and some people can’t,” Rebarchek said. “It depends on the event they compete in as well.”

Warrior freshman Brittany Dulak will be combating a busying schedule for the first time in her career. “It’s hard physically going from a three month season to a nine month season,” Dulak said. “As the season intensifies I keep in mind the goals I’ve set for myself and what I want to achieve.”

The Warriors entered the weekend ranked 25th and are projected to finish second in the Northern Sun Intercollege Conference by the conference’s coaches.

Rebarchek won’t use the rankings to evaluate his team in the early going. He said, “The preseason polls are based on last year’s marks and are not always accurate.”

The Warriors will be back in action Jan. 31 when they travel to Mankato, Minn. for the Minnesota State Open and Multi.

Contact TJ at [email protected]

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