Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
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Championship Page
DE PERE, WI – St. Norbert College holds a 20 point lead after Day One of the Midwest Conference (MWC) Outdoor Track & Field Championship. The Green Knights have scored 79.5 points to Monmouth College’s 59.5 through seven events.
St. Norbert swept the podium in the pole vault led by Graceanne Tarsa. Tarsa earned her first of multiple titles at this year’s meet with a clearance of 3.40m. Teammate Sara DeGroot matched that height to take second while Kirsten Carrigan tied two other jumpers at 3.30m but claimed third place honors on jumps.
Another athlete going for multiple Conference title’s is Beloit College’s Eva Laun-Smith. The sophomore got her first of the meet in the high jump with a winning mark of 1.55m. Behind her four athletes tied for second as Ripon College’s Callista DeCramer, Grinnell College’s Mikayla Kricfalusi, and Monmouth’s Josie Welker and Aleeka Gentzler all cleared 1.50m.
Laun-Smith didn’t wait long to claim her second crown as she won the long jump with a distance of 5.48m followed by Ripon’s Briana Bartz (5.29m) and Monmouth’s Cindy Ladner (5.22m). Another two-time winner on the day was Grinnell’s Agne Lukoseviciute who won both the hammer throw and discus on Friday.
Lukoseviciute’s hammer mark of 55.20m not only won by 7.5 meters but is the new Conference record in the event and currently ranks second in NCAA DIII. Monmouth’s Hannah McVey and Leigha Sebben claimed second (47.62m) and third (44.13m) respectively. The Pioneer then ended her day with another huge win as she took first in the discus by over six meters. She won with her throw of 45.13m with McVey once again earning runner-up honors with a mark of 38.86m.
The first event on the track was the grueling 10,000 meter run where St. Norbert’s Gretchen Price got the win by nearly 30 seconds with her time of 39:05.17 while fellow Green Knight Clara Yoap added five points to the teams score with a fourth place finish.
Caroline Young of Monmouth took runner-up honors behind Price with her time of 39:34.93 followed by Ripon’s Madison King in 39:42.26. The only other final on the track was the 1500 where St. Norbert earned a whopping 27 points. Tarsa picked up her second win of the day as she edged out teammate Kelly Gardipee 4:50.55 to 4:50.93.
Lake Forest College’s Yaneli Guajardo prevented a Green Knight sweep as she snuck in for third with a time of 4:51.52. Tarsa’s sister, Joyana, followed in fourth in a time of 4:53.27 while Alex Bruley was just two seconds back in fifth at 4:55.08.
Day Two of the MWC Outdoor Track & Field Championship will continue tomorrow with field events starting at 10:30 a.m. and track events getting under way at 12:30 p.m.