Contact: Jenna McElroy, Sports Info & Social Media Intern, mcelroy@midwestconference.org
 
Results
 
DE PERE, WI – St. Norbert College won its fifth consecutive Midwest Conference (MWC) Outdoor Track & Field Championship on Saturday. The Green Knights swept the MWC Indoor and Outdoort meets the last five seasons.
 
St. Norbert also had a trio of award winners at the end of the meet as Graceanne Tarsa earned Women’s Outstanding Track Performer, Audrey Makope Newcomer of the Year, and head coach Don Augustine was named Coach of the Year.
 
Tarsa finished off a stellar championship with her third title of the weekend as she ran away with the 3,000 steeplechase in 11:21.07. Teammate Alex Bruley took third in 11:50.56 just three seconds behind Beloit College’s Shelby Kline (11:47.47) and three seconds ahead of Ripon College’s Madison King (11:53.51).
 
The Green Knights also did well in the traditional hurdle events as four athletes qualified for the final of the 100 hurdles and three in the 400 event. Haidyn Mueller was St. Norbert’s top finisher in the 100 hurdles as she finished as the runner-up in 14.88 just .06 behind winner Vanessa Caldwell of Monmouth College. Caldwell earned her second All-MWC honor of the day as she took second in the 400 hurdles in 63.52. Cornell College’s Emma Cochrane defended her title in the event with a school record time of 62.46.
 
Third in the 100 hurdles was day one two-time winner Beloit’s Eva Laun-Smith in a time of 14.93. Laun-Smith then earned her fourth All-MWC honor of the weekend by placing second in the triple jump (11.60m) just .01 meters behind teammate Lena Ramsey’s winning mark of 1.61m.
 
The Buccaneers picked up another win in the 800 as Elite 20 Award winner Melissa Pelkey crossed the line in 2:17.51. It was Pelkey’s first individual win in her career to go with being named the first Buccaneer Elite 20 recipient. The award goes to the student-athlete with the highest grade point average competing at the championship meet.
 
Second through fourth place in the race went to who else but a trio of Green Knights. Kelly Gardipee earned runner-up honors after crossing in 2:18.50 with Morgan McCone close behind in 2:19.59 followed by Joyana Tarsa in 2:22.14. St. Norbert continued its mid-distance dominance by taking the top two spots in the 400. Maddie LeBrun got the win in 56.95 with teammate Sarah Duff in second with a time of 58.69.
 
Illinois College’s Jaidyn Porter also ran under 60 seconds, as she took third in 59.73. Lady Blue teammate Andrea Hyde earned the win in the 100 with a time of 12.07 followed by Beloit’s Aminah Crawford in 12.18. The two swapped places in the 200 with Crawford coming out a top this time in 25.36 to Hyde’s 25.41. Newcomer of the Year Audrey Makope took third in the 100 with a time of 12.33.
 
St. Norbert got back to the top of the podium in the shot put with Kristina Herman getting the win. Herman won easily with a throw of 13.29m while Cornell’s Octavia Martinez picked up her second All-MWC honor with a toss of 12.51m for second.
 
The Green Knights added more points in the javelin with Lauren Rottier placing third with a throw of 35.84m. Ripon’s Briana Bartz finished runner-up for the second time this weekend with her mark of 36.26m. And winning the event with a new school record of 39.84 was Grinnell College’s Cara Bresnahan.
Bresnahan’s teammate Agne Lukoseviciute earned Outstanding Field Performer after winning the hammer throw and discus events on Friday. Fellow Pioneer, Emma Schaefer, joined the two in earning All-MWC honors as she took second in the 5,000 with a time of 18:39.18. Cornell senior Dominique Fleming got the win when she crossed in 18:29.18. Monmouth’s Caroline Young picked up her second All-MWC finish as she was third in a time of 18:45.98.
 
Lastly, in the relay events, Beloit and Illinois College earned second and third place finishes in both the 4x100 and 4x400. The St. Norbert team of Zima, LeBrun, Duff, and Makope won the 4x100 while Monmouth’s Caldwell, Hofmann, Myers, and Peckham took the top spot in the 4x400.