St. Scholastica looks to defend title at 2016 Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships
ST. PAUL, Minn.---After an exciting indoor season that saw countless conference records fall, the 2016 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships should be just as entertaining when it kicks off Friday at the University of Minnesota Morris in Morris, Minnesota.
The College of St. Scholastica will once again look to hold off Minnesota Morris and the University of Wisconsin-Superior – the Saints are pursuing their 12th-straight UMAC outdoor team title.
Heading into the championships, the Saints and Cougars will have plenty of names in the spotlight, while the Yellowjackets will continue challenge the dominant squad in individual events.
The Saints’ top returner who should look to challenge the high jump field comes in the form of senior Nicole Christianson who was the 2015 UMAC Field Athlete of the Meet and qualified for the NCAA Championships. So far this season, Christianson has already matched her career-best mark of 1.70 meters (5-7) which ranks fourth in Division III.
Christianson will be tested by Minnesota Morris’ Kaitlin Kamm, though, who also ranks 16th in the nation this season with a mark of 1.68 meters (5-6). The Cougar jumper also competed at the NCAA meet a year ago and will look to repeat that success. Kamm also hopes to defend her 100-meter hurdles title but currently ranks second behind Hannah Russert of St. Scholastica (15.52).
Also in field action, Alicia Doerr of Minnesota Morris will attempt to defend her record in the long jump, but she’ll be challenged by Wisconsin-Superior’s Svenja Ruehl who won both horizontal jump events at the UMAC Indoor Championships –earning the sophomore the UMAC Indoor Field Athlete of the Meet honor. Both enter the meet with a mark of 5.40 meters (17-8.75) in the long jump, while Ruehl leads in the triple jump at 11.36 meters (37-3.25).
Doerr holds a slight lead in the pole vault entering the meet in front of Cougar teammate Carly Denler, while the Cougars’ Kassidy Przymus and Sami Brinkmann hold the top two marks in both the discus and hammer throw events heading into the championships. The Cougars also boast the top competitor in the javelin in Taylor Nordby who has the top mark of 31.22 meters (102-5).
The Cougars will also see Doerr in the mix for the sprints, but she’ll have to hold off teammate Teja Foy of Minnesota Morris. The senior enters the meet with the top times in the 100-meter dash (12.45) and the 200-meter dash (25.64). Rookie Emily Ciesynski also looks to capture a win for the Cougars in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05.30).
As the distance gets longer, the Cougars still find themselves in the mix for victory – but the competition gets even tougher. Sidney Paulson leads the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.12, but she could see competition from Breanna Shofner of St. Scholastica and Kelli Praska of Wisconsin-Superior.
The top times heading into the meet in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter events belong to breakout rookie star Praska who won three events at the UMAC Indoor meet for Wisconsin-Superior – she was also named the UMAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet. In the 800-meter event, Praska boasts a time of 2:15.24 that is four seconds faster than Taylor Gibson and Emily Lundgren of St. Scholastica. She will also have to fend off Rachel Wingenbach of Minnesota Morris who won the 1,500-meter events a year ago.
Wingenbach will also look to defend her title in the 5,000-meter run, but she’ll be challenged by St. Scholastica’s standout sophomore Casey Hovland who holds over a minute lead over the next competitor with a time of 17:36.66 heading into the event.
The Saints Jordan Johnson set a new meet record in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2015 and holds the fastest time of 12:07.76 heading into Friday’s meet.
Bethany Lutheran College will rely on Kari Marzinske and Megan Sauer to score points in multiple sprints and distance events, respectively, while Martin Luther College’s Charlotte Huebner ranks second heading into the javelin. Crown College, North Central University and the University of Northwestern-St. Paul will also compete with athletes in multiple events.
The UMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships are set to begin Friday with running and field events at 4 p.m. Day two of the championships are slated to start at 11 a.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 will be provided by Hero’s Timing. Fans can also keep up with the meet app for smartphones available for download at
www.herostiming.com.
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2016 UMAC Championship site