Huskies Turn in Strong Showing at Augustana Viking Olympics
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Michigan Tech men's and women's track and field teams both competed at the Augustana Viking Olympics on Saturday which featured a number of outstanding performances. The men finished third in the overall team standings with 90.34 points while the women placed seventh with 66.5 points. The two teams combined to have top 10 finishes in 23 events, including five first place performances.
On the men's side, Jason Saliga outlasted the field for first place in the 3000m Steeple race. He clocked a time of 9:05.83 and was followed closely by teammate Nate Carey who checked in second with a time of 9:38.57. Saliga is currently ranked 7th in NCAA Division II in the Steeplechase event.
Grant Brown, Saliga, Corey Zeutzius, and Chancelor Miller combined to claim first place for the Huskies in the 4 x 800m with a time of 8:11.47. In the Pole Vault, Jake Jurkowski garnered the top spot with a mark of 4.65m and when Keith Lemley cleared the bar at 4.50m it gave the Huskies second place in the event as well.
Other top 10 finishes for the Tech men on Saturday included Riley Hibbard checking in at No. 10 in the 5000 Meters with a time of 16:46.55. The 4 x 100m Relay team of Chrispin Johnston, Jacob Jarvis, Chad Brown, and Jason Bell finished fifth with a time of 44.25 seconds. Larry Lamb (15.92) and Jarvis (16.06) were seventh and ninth respectively in the 110m Hurdles on Saturday.
John Bailey (51.20) was eighth in the 400 Meters, Zeutzius (1:58.42) was fifth in the 800 Meters, and Shane McGrath (55.27) was fifth in the 400m Hurdles.
To round out the field events for the Tech men, Chad Brown was eighth in the Long Jump with a mark of 6.29m, James Huey (12.57m, 6th) and Hunter Worden (12.44m 8th) each grabbed top 10 finishes in the Triple Jump, and Gabriel Wykle was fourth in the Javelin with a throw of 44.69m.
The Tech women had two athletes who placed first in their respective events beginning with Ashley Veale who took the top spot in the 400m Hurdles with a time of 1:03.09. Erin Lipp (1:11.13, 6th) and Audra Thurston (1:12.18, 7th) were both in the top 10 in the hurdles as well. In the Long Jump, Aimee Allen bested the field of 26 competitors in the finals with a mark of 5.54m on her way to first place.
Robyn Holmes (12:24.49, 8th) and Carly Huggins (12:28.80, 9th) were in the top 10 in the 3000m Steeple while Allen, Veale, Lauren Tetzloff, and Jamie Dompier teamed up to take second place in the 4 x 100m Relay by crossing the line with a time of 48.51 seconds. Dompier also tied for sixth in the 100 Meters, hitting the line with a time of 12.85 seconds while Tetzloff notched eighth place in the final results of the 400 Meters with a time of 100.24.
Dompier then earned eighth place in the field of 75 athletes in the 200 Meters by crossing the line in 26.34 seconds. Carly Huggins, Cassie Gietek, Daniella Kyllonen, and Robyn Holmes guided the Huskies to a third place finish in the 4 x 800m Relay with a time of 10:38.62. Allen, Veale, Tetzloff, and Dompier collaborated to give Tech second place in the 4 x 400m Relay, hitting the line in just under four minutes at 3:59.03. Alyssa Smith capped the meet with a third place performance in the Javelin after a toss of 30.58m.
The Huskies will be back in action on Saturday when they compete at the CSB-SJU Invitational in Collegeville, Minn.