Minnesota Morris women first after day one of UMAC Women's Outdoor Championships
MORRIS, Minn.---The University of Minnesota Morris used the advantage of being on their home track to take a lead over reigning-champion College of St. Scholastica after the opening day of competition at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships Friday.
The Cougars used several impressive finishes to take a 35-point lead over the Saints heading into the final day. The leading Cougars have 125 points, while the Saints have 85 and the University of Wisconsin-Superior is third with 59 points.
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Day One Results |
Though there were no meet records set Friday, that definitely didn't mean the meet wasn't full of intrigue. Perhaps the most closely contested race of the day was the 800-meter run where UMAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Meet Kelli Praska beat out reigning UMAC Player of the Week Taylor Gibson by four-tenths of a second. Wisconsin-Superior's Praska crossed the line in 2:19.38, while St. Scholastica's Gibson finished in 2:19.81.
St. Scholastica's Jordan Johnnson was the lone repeat champion of the day. The junior finished the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 12:44.01 to capture the conference title.
Minnesota Morris had four individual event winners and took the title in the 4 x 800-meter relay with a time of 10:09.64. Senior sprinter Teja Foy won the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.60 and she also clocked the fastest 100-meter time in prelims at 12.35.
After winning a conference championship at the UMAC indoor meet, Sami Brinkmann took home the crown in the hammer throw with a toss of 49.68 meters (163-00). Multi-sport athlete Carly Denler took first in the pole vault with a jump of 2.97 meters (9-9) to score additional points for the Cougars. Sophomore Emily Ciesynski also won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:07.58 to add to the Cougars lead over the Saints.
The Yellowjackets has sophomore field star Svenja Ruehl show up in a big way with a jump of 5.52 meters (18-1.50) to take the championship title in the long jump.
The final individual champion of the day came from Martin Luther College in the javelin. Katie Zietlow used a throw of 33.62 meters (110-4)to capture the event title.
The remainder of the UMAC Championships meet is slated to conclude Saturday at Minnesota Morris. Events are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
Live results are being provided by Hero's Timing. Fans can also keep up with the meet app for smartphones available for download at
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2016 UMAC Championships Site