Huskies Close Successful Weekend at Gina Relays and St. Norbert Quad
DE PERE, Wis. – The Michigan Tech men's and women's track & field teams competed at the Gina Relays hosted by Hillsdale College and at the St. Norbert Quad meet this weekend. The meets wrapped up on Saturday with successful results for the Huskies. The Tech men finished third as a team at St. Norbert while the women placed fifth. Team scores were not recorded at the Gina Relays.
"We had a split squad weekend, and had some pretty good results at both meets," Head Coach Jake Isaacson said. "Liz [Bloch] continues her dominance with another school record, and Korson [Mundinger] dipping under 11 seconds in the 100m is awesome heading into GLIAC Championships. We had some kids earn their conference spot at St. Norbert which was great to see. Next week will be a toss-up with where we stand as a team on both sides. Staying excited and embracing the challenge will be our focus for the next week."
Liz Bloch highlighted the weekend at the Gina Relays for the Huskies by shattering the school record in the 1500 Meter Run with a time of 4:29.88. The time generated a sixth place finish in the championship round of the event. The previous school record was 4:35.22 which was set in 2015 by Deedra Irwin.
Bloch also claimed third in the championship section of the 800 Meter Run by hitting the line with a time of 2:12.07. She was just four seconds off the pace of Dillon McClintock from Michigan State who won the event with a time of 2:08.74.
Ashley Veale turned in a solid performance in the 400 Meter Hurdles, crossing the line in a time of 1:03.60. Veale took home third place and was right on the heels of Michigan State's Taylor Mullins who was just two seconds ahead of Veale for first place.
Veale and Bloch then teamed up with Aimee Allen and Madisyn Estkowski to compete in the 4x400 Meter Relay championship event. The Huskies finished third with a time of 4:01.93 and were only three seconds off the pace of first place St. Francis (Ill.).
On the men's side at the Gina Relays, Korson Mundinger generated a third place finish in the 100 Meter Dash thanks to a time of 10.99 seconds. Mundinger also competed in the championship section of the 200 Meter Dash for the Huskies this weekend. He placed sixth with a time of 22.32. Other competitors of note were Emily Byrd who took part in the championship section of the 5k and Keith Lemley who made the championship field in the Pole Vault.
At St. Norbert's on Saturday, Joshua Rzeppa and Mike Tuski jumped into the top three of the 800 Meter Dash. Rzeppa earned second place with a time of 1:58.41 followed by Tuski in third with a time of 1;59.32.
All three of the top spots in the men's 110m Hurdles belonged to the Huskies on Saturday. Jacob Jarvis crossed the line in first place with a time of 16.00 seconds followed by Zach Jensen in second (16.16) and Gage Armstrong in third (16.22). Armstrong also competed in the 400m Hurdles and claimed the title with a time of 59.15 seconds. Jensen was second on the strength of a time of 1:01.11.
Tuski, Rzeppa, Zach Okma, and Justin Mentink teamed up to bring home second place for the Huskies in the 4x400 Meter Relays. They combined for a time of 3:33.96 and picked up eight points in the team standings for Tech.
In the field events, Riley Roquet checked in with a second place performance in the Pole Vault by clearing the bar at 4.15m. James Huey was first in the Triple Jump with a mark of 12.58m followed by teammate Ben Mahonen in second with his mark of 12.48m.
Gabrielle Hummel had one of the top performances for the Tech women Saturday at St. Norbert, placing second in the 100 Meter Dash with a time of 13.08 seconds. She was less than a tenth of a second behind the top time of 12.98 seconds.
Jesse Jacobusse claimed first place in the 400 Meter Dash Saturday by hitting the line in a time of 1:01.36. She edged out Mikaela Hintz of Lawrence who recorded a time of 1:01.79. Julia Manzano was second the 800 Meter Run for the Huskies by sprinting to the line in 2:26.65 while Robyn Holmes outlasted the field for first place in the 1500 Meter Run with a time of 4:54.50.
Katherine Schneider outran the field in the 3000 Meter Run on her way to first place in the event with a time of 10:57.06. Erin Lipp and Audra Thurston placed first and second respectively in the 400m Hurdles Saturday. Lipp had a time of 1:09.68 while Thurston posted a time of 1:10.41.
In the 4x400 Meter Relay, Jacobusse, Manzano, Thurston, and Ellaina Cook brought home first place with a time of 4:16.58. They soared past the team from Carroll who was a distant second at 4:25.58.
In field events for the women's team. Sarah Montgomery was third in Saturday's Pole Vault competition with a mark of 2.92m. Her placement in the final standings gave the Huskies six points towards the team standings.
The Huskies will now turn their attention to the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships which are set to begin on Wednesday and run through Friday. This year's championship meet is being hosted by Ashland University.