The Winona State University Track and Field team competed at the Bearcat Invitational last Saturday in Maryville, Missouri, with two more Warrior indoor records were broken by runners senior Ali Johnson and junior Anna Rogahn.

Johnson, who had held the previous 800m indoor record, broke her own record by finishing with a time 2:13.94 that landed her a second-place finish. Her previous 800m record stood for just over a year when she set it back on Jan. 27, 2018. Johnson finished one second behind a Division I runner from the University of Nebraksa-Omaha, while senior teammate Hope Willenbrink finished third in the event with a time of 2:15.28.

Rogahn, who already set a new 3000m record earlier this season, also had her sights set on the Winona State indoor mile record, which was over two decades old. Finishing first in the event, Rogahn became the first Warrior in program history to run the indoor mile in under five minutes, finishing with a time of 4:58.73. The previous record was set in 1993 by Maureen Ryan, with Rogahn beating it by over two full seconds.

It almost seems as if there is a new Warrior indoor record falling each week, with multiple personal bests and school records being set in the recent weeks. Senior jumper Emma Severson touched on how those are related to how close the team is.

“My favorite part about being on this team is the closeness of it,” Severson said. “I never would have expected to have 40 really great girl friends that push me each day to be better than I was yesterday. I know I can go to any of them, and any of my coaches, for anything – track related or not. It’s really amazing to have a team become a second family,”

First-year Michaela Pryor continued her impressive rookie year as she finished sixth in the 60m dash, qualifying for the finals with a time of 7.78 seconds before matching her personal best of 7.73 seconds. She then finished eighth in the 200m dash with a time of 25.54 seconds. Fellow first-year teammate Brooklyn Schyvinck ran a career best time of 25.27 seconds to place sixth in the race.

Senior Brittany Schyvinck ran a time of 56.12 seconds in the 400m dash and finished in fourth place, with first-year Shereen Vallabouy finishing seventh with a time of 57.51 seconds after recently joining the Winona State track and field team.

The Warrior’s 4×400 relay team of Kalley Harris, Shereen Vallabouy and the Schyvinck sisters finished second with a collective time of 3:51.30.

“Getting the opportunity to practice with them every day and overcome workouts you physically thought wouldn’t be possible to finish is an incredible feeling,” Harris said. “Sharing the same passion you have for a sport with people that want to be there as much as you do is what makes it all worth it.”

The girls have one final tune-up competition on Friday, Feb. 15 in the Maverick Invitational in Mankato, before the upcoming NSIC Indoor Championships.