Three records fall on opening day of UMAC women's championship
SUPERIOR, Wis.---Heading into the 2016 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships, there was great potential for multiple meet records to fall with impressive seed times and marks. The opening night of competition didn't disappoint as three new records were set to highlight an exciting opening day of action Friday at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
|
Day One Results |
The first women's record of the night came when College of St. Scholastica sophomore Casey Hovland ran a time of 18:03.32 in the 5,000-meter run to better the previous record set in 2014 by over 13 seconds. Her time also clinched Hovaland's first indoor UMAC title and was over a minute faster than the next competitor.
With Wisconsin-Superior joining the meet for the first time in 2016, new faces were sure to capture individual titles. The first record of the night for the Yellowjacket women was courtesy of sophomore Svenja Ruehl who recorded a mark of 5.38 meters (17-8) in the long jump. Her jump broke the previous mark of 5.27 meters (17-3.5) set in 2012.
Back on the track, the University of Minnesota Morris defended its title in the Distance Medley Relay and set a new conference record in the process. The team of Hannah Goemann, Tanna Boyle, Rachel Wingenbach and Laura Borkenhagen ran a time of 13:17.53 that is nearly 10 seconds faster than the previous record held by the University of Northwestern-St. Paul from 2010.
Reigning UMAC champion and 2015 Field Athlete of the Meet Nicole Christianson lived up to expectations as she kept her title in the high jump. The senior cleared 1.57 meters (5-1.75) to win and her mark was two inches better than the next competitor.
The final women's field event of the night also had a repeat champion as Minnesota Morris' Sammi Brinkmann captured the title in the weight throw with a mark of 15.89 meters (52-0). The sophomore won commandingly as her throw was over 12 feet further than the next competitor.
Yellowjacket rookie Kelli Praska made her mark in her first season of UMAC competition when she captured the title in the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.91. The first-year was the only woman to break the one-minute mark in Friday's finals.
St. Scholastica defended its title in the women's 4 x 200-meter relay as Sammi Agrir, Breana Shofner, Nicole Schommer and Rachel Harmston raced to a time of 1:47.97. The Saints' were nearly three seconds faster than runner up Minnesota Morris.
The 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdle event prelims kicked off the meet and set the scence for two thrilling finals Saturday. Minnesota Morris pair Alicia Doerr and Teja Foy took the top two spots, respectively in the 60-meter dash. Doerr clocked a time of 8.13 to edge out Foy at 8.18.
In the 60-meter hurdles, defending champion Hannah Russert of St. Scholastica and Wisconsin-Superior's Ruehl tied with times of 9.45 to make for an intriguing final that could need a photo finish.
After one day of action, St. Scholastica leads the team standings with 97 points while Minnesota Morris occupies the runner up spot with 65.5 points. Wisconsin-Superior is third with 48 points and Bethany Lutheran College sits fourth with 39.5 points. Northwestern rounds out the standings with three points.
Day two of the championships are slated to start at 12 p.m. on Saturday. All meet information including ticket information, meet schedule, meet information and more can be found on the UMAC championship site.
Live results and
scoreboard are being provided by Hero's Timing. Fans can also keep up with the meet app for smartphones available for download at
www.herostiming.com. Keep up with all of the tournament action on
Twitter and
Instagram using
#UMACchamp.
2016 UMAC Championship site