Dillon Hogan/Winonan
The first meet of the outdoor season for the Winona State University track and field team began the first of their seven week schedule which will conclude with the NCAA outdoor championships.
The Warriors kept their midseason form en route to claiming the title at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh meet. Winona State won the meet in a dominating performance with a total margin of 29 points over the second place finishers, Oshkosh.
On top of their 29 point win, the Warriors collected ten event wins during the meet.
This is the first meet the Warriors have competed in since the NCAA Indoor National Championships, which culminated with two All-Americans for the Warriors in Alissa Rausch and Megan Elliott. Also competing from the NCAA Indoor National Championships was the 4×400 meter team and weight thrower Shania Guider.
Coming into the meet in Oshkosh, the Warriors were ranked 23rd overall in the most recent national rankings. The ranking is a spot up from where the Warriors were slated to begin in the preseason poll.
Winona State is also one of five ranked teams in the NSIC conference, the most of any conference in the nation.
With an impressive 45 event wins on the season, the Warriors were looking to add more. In the 200-meter race Sarah Finley claimed victory.
Joining Finley with a victory each was Kelsey Bethke in the 400-meter race and Jordan Skelly took home first place in the 3000-meter race. Two Warriors took a win in the hurdling races.
Anna Blaske won her event in the 100-meter hurdles and Taylor Vogel claimed the win in the 400-meter hurdles.
The already national championship qualifying 4×400 meter relay team consisting of Kelsey Bethke, Katie Bagley, Catherine Whitcomb, and Brittney Rynda also took home a victory in the 4×400 meter race. The 4×400 meter relay team has been one of several record setters for the Warriors.
The Warriors were not done with only the running portion of the meet as they were just as successful during the events of the meet.
Rausch notched a pair of NCAA Championship provisional qualifying scores in the shot put with a final throw of 14.63 meters and added a discus qualification with a toss of 48.05 meters.
Also joining Rausch with a provisional qualifying mark in the discus was teammate Shania Guider who qualified with a throw of 47.11 meters.
Concluding the event section of the meet, the Warriors were also able to grab a set of victories with Brittney Rynda getting the win in the triple jump and Paige Garriga who threw to the win in the javelin toss.
Following the end of the meet, the Warriors came out on top of the total six teams present with a combined scoring tally of 221 points.
Next, the Warriors will be competing in the Warrior Open and Multi on April 12-13 in Winona.
Contact Dillon at [email protected]
