MAC SLAVIN SPORTS EDITOR
The Wartburg track and field teams brought home four first- place finishes and nine second- place finishes from the University of Wisconsin – Platteville Pioneer Open on Saturday.
“On the women’s side, we had some really good performances across the board. Obviously there’s a lot of room for improvement and we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves but I think it was a success,” head coach Marcus Newsom said.
The women were lead by a one-two finish in the 400-meter dash from Faith Burt and Jenny Kordick. Burt won the race in 58.64, and Kordick finished with a time of 58.69.
In the 800-meter run the Knights were able to capture three of the top four finishes. Amanda and Jennifer Kuiken finished in second and third place with times of 2:17 and 2:18 respectively. Becca Fagerlind was right behind them in third place with a time of 2:20.
“Anytime where you set up a position to finish two-three-four you feel pretty good about it and it gives us an opportunity to see where we are at and see what things we have to work on and to improve on,” Newsom said.
Skye Morrison brought home a first-place finish in the long jump after jumping 5.56 meters. Hannah Baker came home with fourth with a 5.02-meter jump.
Baker also brought home a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.03.
The 55-meter hurdles saw a close race as Wartburg’s Kelsey Steffens and Loras’s Barb Kremer both finished with a time of 8.34, but Kremer edged out Steffens for first place. Right behind Steffens was Brittany Thomas who finished the hurdles with a time of 8.56 in third.
“Our conference on the women’s side is probably the strongest it’s ever been in the 55 hurdles and for her to come out and have that level of performance against some very good competition I feel good about that as well,” Newsom said.
In the high jump, Amber Axon and Alicia Ford finished two-three for the Knights respectively. Axon and Ford both successfully cleared 1.56 meters.
Nevada Morrison crossed the line in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.42, which was good enough for second-place. Laura Sigmund also came home with a second place finish as she took second in the mile with a time of 5:18.
In the long distance races Wartburg brought home a pair of third-place finishes from Lori Tlach and Sarah Moon. Tlach finished the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18.43, while Moon finished the 3,000-meter run, in 11:23.
The Knights had two teams in the 4x400-meter dash, a race that came down to the wire. Wartburg’s ‘B’ team came out on top with a time of 3:55.33, while the ‘A’ team finished with a time of 3:55.39.
Another first place finish came from the 4x200-meter relay team, as they crossed the line after 1:44. The distance medley finished in second with a time of 12:08.
“On the other side of things I think the men are coming. We are making some progress. We have a couple weeks now and we have to mature to be able to go after our goals,” Newsom said.
The men were led by third-place finishes in the field events. Skyler Ahrens came home in third in the long jump with a 6.54-meter jump. Damoan Lott also finished third in the triple jump after jumping 13.80 meters.
“Those are great performances for the guys in those jumps, and we are going to need those performances down the road come conference time,” Newsom said.
Drew Johnson brought home fourth place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.00, while teammate Russell Harris finished in fourth in the 55-meter hurdles. Harris finished with a time of 7.98.
The Knights 4x400-meter relay team came home with a second-place finish, crossing the line after 3:24. A fourth-place finish came home with the 4x200-meter relay team after running a time of 1:34.
The teams will be back in action Saturday as they host the Wartburg Invite, with events scheduled to start at 10:30 a.m.