Huskies Open 2018 Season at Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Michigan Tech men's and women's track & field teams opened up the season over the weekend in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at the Alan Connie Shamrock Invitational. The Huskies had seven top ten performers in various events throughout the meet.
"This was a fun trip, and a great opportunity for some of our athletes to get back into the competitive mindset after a solid winter of training," Michigan Tech Head Coach Jake Isaacson said. "It was a bit windy on each of the meet days which made for some tougher race conditions, but we'll take wind and sand over snow for our competitions. We had 7 top-10 performances at a pretty big meet, and I think all of our athletes approached this opportunity very well. We had a lot of fun as a team down here, and we're very excited the rest of the season."
Michigan Tech had a pair of second place finishers in events starting with Ashley Veale placing second in the 400m hurdles. Veale logged a time of 1:04.45 and finished less than a second behind Holly Driver of College of Charleston who won the event with a time of 1:03.50. Veale competed against a number of NCAA Division I athletes in the event.
Grant Brown generated a second place finish for the Huskies in the 5000 Meter Run thanks to a time of 15:04.83. There were 37 competitors in the event including teammate Robbie Watling who turned in a top ten performance by finishing eighth with a time of 15:50.34. In the 3000 Meter Run, Brown clocked a time of 8:50.11 which was good for 10th place.
Emily Byrd had strong performances in both the 3000 and 5000 Meter Runs over the weekend, placing fifth in both events. Byrd hit the line in 10:23.66 during the 3000 Meter Run and ran at a 17:58.98 clip in the 5000 Meter Run.
Nate Carey along with Jonathan Nelson rounded out the top ten finishers for the Huskies in the first meet of the season. Carey was ninth in the 3000m Steeple by crossing the line in 9:48.31 while Nelson cleared the bar in the Pole Vault with a mark of 4.30m. Nelson also placed ninth in the event that featured 20 competitors in the finals.
A complete list of the MTU athletes who competed over the weekend are listed below. The Huskies are back in action on Saturday at the Augustana Early College Opener in Rock Island, Illinois.
Women's Long Jump
Aimee Allen 5.15m 16th
Men's One Mile Open
Garrett Smith 4:49.36 6th
Alex Claerbaut 4:59.62 12th
Men's 400 Open
Justin Mentink 53.69 10th
Men's 800 Open
Alex Claerbaut 2:10.55 28th
Men's 200 Open
Zach Okma 23.59 6th
Men's Javelin
Garrett Smith 20.75m 33rd
Men's Pole Vault
Jonathan Nelson 4.30m 9th
Men's 4x800 Relay
Jacob Namyst, Joshua Rzeppa, Braden Reichl, Garrett Smith 8:16.37 11th
Men's 3000m Steeple
Nate Carey 9:48.31 9th
Braden Reichl 10:26.05 16th
Cory Burkwald 10:44.11 20th
Women's 5000 Meters
Emily Byrd 17:58.98 5th
Men's 5000 Meters
Grant Brown 15:04.83 2nd
Robbie Watling 15:50.34 8th
Riley Hibbard 16:51.00 27th
Men's Discus
Michael Frahm 39.28m 23rd
Men's Long Jump "B"
James Huey 5.85m 14th
Hunter Worden 5.47m 18th
Women's Shot Put
Jenna Burns 11.98m 16th
Women's One Mile Seeded
Madisyn Estkowski 5:22.33 18th
Katherine Schneider 5:28.83 23rd
Julia Manzano 5:29.43 24th
Men's One Mile Seeded
Braden Reichl 4:38.42 33rd
Men's 400 Seeded
Zach Okma 54.28 46th
Men's Shot Put
Michael Frahm 14.12m 19th
Women's 800 Seeded
Madisyn Estkowski 2:23.42 15th
Men's 800 Seeded
Joshua Rzeppa 1:58.73 14th
Women's 400m Hurdles
Ashley Veale 1:04.45 2nd
Men's 400m Hurdles
Jacob Namyst 57.87 14th
Gage Armstrong 1:00.68 28th
Zach Jensen 1:02.99 33rd
Women's 200 Seeded
Ashley Veale 26.31 36th
Aimee Allen 26.65 42nd
Women's 3000 Meters
Emily Byrd 10:23.66 5th
Julia Manzano 11:03.06 16th
Katherine Schneider 11:26.39 25th
Men's 3000 Meters
Grant Brown 8:50.11 10th
Nate Carey 9:07.20 18th
Robbie Watling 9:28.43 24th
Riley Hibbard 9:43.45 35th
Women's 4x400 Meter Relay
Aimee Allen, Ashley Veale, Madisyn Estkowski, Julia Manzano 4:18.63 16th