Huskies Impress at Al Owens Classic
ALLENDALE, Mich. – The men and women of the Michigan Tech track & field team finished the weekend with a number of strong performances at the Al Owens Classic, hosted by Grand Valley State University.
Michigan Tech placed a number of their student-athletes in the top 12 of their respective events at the Al Owens Classic. Samantha Kurkowski was the highlight as the freshman finished third in the 3000m Steeplechase with a time of 11:22.27. Erin Lipp crossed the finish line of the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:06.99 to take sixth. Jesse Jacobusse clocked a time of 2:19.67 in the 800m for an eighth-place finish, while Lucille Nunneley earned 10th-palce finish in the 5000m with a time of 19:01.06. Laura Lyons, Julia Manzano, and Chloe Strach all finished finished 12th, with Lyons crossing the finish line of the 400m dash in 1:00.31, Manzano clocking a time of 4:54.97 in the 1500m, and Strach completing the 5000m in 19:05.00.
The relay teams also scored top-10 finishes on the track. The 4x100m team, consisting of Lipp, Lyons, Gabrielle Hummel, and Alicia Shatrau, put in a seventh-place finish by crossing the line at 51.03. Meanwhile, the 4x400m team of Lyons, Lipp, Jacobusse, and Madisyn Estkowski also scored a seventh-place finish in a time of 4:08.38.
In the men's track competitions, Derek Flory was the highest-placing Husky by plaving fifth in the 400m hurdles in a time of 56.19. Joshua Rzeppa blazed through the 800m in 1:58.00 to finish the event in sixth. Larry Lamb was one of three Huskies to finish in the top 12 of the 110m hurdles, placing ninth at 15.58, and he was joined by Jason Bell (10th, 15.96) and Gage Armstrong (11th, 16.13). Nate Nannfedlt finished 10th in the 400m dash with a time of 50.75, while Jacob Namyst took 11th in the 400m hurdles with a time of 57.12, and Bobby Beggs placed 12th with a time of 15:42.78 in the 5000m.
The 4x400m men's relay team of Zach Okma, John Bailey, Namyst, and Nannfedlt scored a second-place finish with a time of 3:21.74, just finishing behind the Grand Valley State relay team by 0.51 seconds. The 4x100m relay team of Korson Mundinger, Bell, Nannfedlt, and Lamb also put in a top-10 performance with a time of 43.65 to place eighth.
In the field events on Friday, Sam Fuhrman's fourth-place finish in the javelin with a throw of 44.02m and Sarah Montgomery taking third in the unseeded pole vault with a mark of 3.45m were the highlights for the Huskies.
In the other women's field events, Katherine Jarvis hit a mark of 11.83 in the shot put to finish ninth, while Kendra Monette finished 11th in the event with a throw of 11.60m. In the triple jump, Kayla Brei jumped 9.86m to finish 10th.
For the men, Riley Roquet vaulted 4.60m in the pole vault invite, earning him fifth in the event. Meanwhile, James Huey jumped 12.51m in the triple jump to finish sixth, Cade Meyer took eighth in the unseeded pole vault with a mark of 4.00m, and Jacob Evilsizer made a throw of 14.08m to place 10th in the shot put.
"We had 28 personal bests and quite a few individual heat victories over the weekend," said head coach Jake Isaacson. "The wind played a bit of a factor, but we raced smart and tough and were rewarded with some great breakthroughs."
The Huskies will head downstate once again on Thursday (Apr. 25) through Saturday (Apr. 27) when they compete at the GINA Relays, hosted by Hillsdale College. It will be the final team meet of the season before the 2019 GLIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 1-3.