WAYNE – Outdoor college track and field teams took over Memorial Stadium on the campus of Wayne State College this past weekend.
From the LeRoy Simpson Track, the Wildcat Classic featured teams of Briar Cliff University (IA), Dakota State University (SD), Dordt College (IA), Martin Luther College (MN), Midland University, Minnesota State-Mankato throwers; Northwestern (IA) 10k athletes, University of Sioux Falls (SD) and University of South Dakota along with the host Wayne State College.
The Wayne State College women were led by four event wins along with two NCAA provisional qualifying marks to open the outdoor season.
Event winners for the Wildcats were freshman Maya Couch in the 100-meter dash (12.62), Megan Hansen in the 100-meter hurdles in 15.40 seconds, Sarah Cotton in the 200-meter dash at 26.69 seconds and Emily Smollen in the triple jump at 36’ 5”.
NCAA provisional qualifying marks were recorded in the hammer throw by graduate student Mckenzie Scheil with a second place finish of 201’ 4” followed by junior Brooklynn Chipps in third at 192’ 7”.
Second place finishes were posted by Cotton in the 100-meter dash (12.66), Kevona Brown in the 200-meter dash (26.87), Kenzie Moeller in the long jump (17’ 1 ¼”) and Keyla Sambo in the triple jump with a leap of 35’ 5 ¾”.
Emily Erickson took third place in the 400-meter dash (1:04.09) and the triple jump (34’ 7”), Kevona Brown was third in the 100-meter dash in 12.80 seconds, Emily Smollen was third in the long jump (16’ 11 ¼”) and Kendra Paasch earned a third place mark in the shot put (44’ 11”).
Maya Couch was fourth in the 200-meter dash (27.02), Allie Rosener was fourth in the 1,500-meter run in 5:10.66, Kendra Paasch placed fourth in the discus at 149’ 10”, Makenna Taake took fourth in the long jump (16’ 4 ¼”) and Scheil came in fourth in the shot put at 43’ 8 ½”.
Top fifth place finishes came from Alison Stineman in the 800-meter run (2:32.22), Kelsey Larsen was fifth in the 1,500-meter run at 5:12.94, Keyla Sambo was fifth in the long jump (16’ 1 ½”) and Taake took fifth in the triple jump at 33’ 2 ½”.
The Wildcat 4 x 400 meter relay team of Allie Rosener, Kelsey Larsen, Alison Stineman and Marin Jetensky took second place with a time of 4:24.34
Moving into the men’s division, WSC top performances came from freshman Logan Moeller who took first place in the long jump while graduate student Cole Christoffersen hit an NCAA provisional mark in the hammer throw.
Moeller, a graduate of Pierce, won the long jump with a top mark of 22’ 9 ¼” while the 4 x 100 meter quartet of Theo Huber, Noah Carr, Wyatt Nissen and Moeller crossed the line first in 43.95 seconds.
In the weight throw, graduate student Cole Christoffersen posted an NCAA provisional mark with a third place finish at 189’ 11”.
Gabe Peitz earned a second place finish in the 800-meter run at 1:59.28, Alex Brandt was second in the 110-meter high hurdles (15.81) and Dylan Kneifl was second in the long jump at 21’ 4 ¾”.
Freshman Theo Huber was third in the 100-meter dash (11.35), Dylan Kneifl came in third in the high jump clearing 6’ 6 ¾” and Braden Johnson took third in the long jump at 20’ 10”.
Freshman Alex Brandt took fourth place in the javelin throw (142’ 8”) with senior Noah Lilly fifth at 128’ 9”.
Noah Carr was fourth in the 200-meter dash in 23.15 seconds followed by Jacob Ladage in fifth (23.23).
Brock Hegarty finished fifth in the 1500-meter run (4:10.10) followed by Bryce Holcomb in sixth (4:11.32) and Nathan Pearson seventh (4:12.15).
Brandt collected a fourth place finish in the high jump (6’ 2 ¾”) with Aaron English fifth at 5’ 10 ¾”.
The 4 x 400 meter relay team of Jacob Ladage, Michael Kueny, Jackson McIntyre and Bryce Holcomb recorded a second place finish in 3:29.93.
The Wayne State College women’s and men’s track and field team will next compete in the USD Early Bird Invite on Saturday, April 2 in Vermillion, South Dakota.
