Posted: Mar 20, 2021

Track & Field opens with strong meet at St. Norbert Equinox

Results

DE PERE, Wis. - Michigan Tech men's and women's outdoor track and field season began Saturday at the St. Norbert Equinox Classic and the both Husky teams took second place out of three with several individual event winners and strong performances. In men's competition, host St. Norbert topped the team chart with 184 points. Tech scored 131.5 and Ripon tallied 35.5 points. In women's track and field, St. Norbert scored 161. MTU posted 81 with Ripon at 68.

"It was the perfect opener, a chance to shake off the cobwebs and remember how to race again after a canceled season last year," said head coach Kristina Owen. "For many of these athletes, it's been two years since they last toed a starting line. They were beyond excited for the opportunity, and we want to thank Coach Augustine and St Norbert for hosting us."

Even with an extended lay off and a smaller roster than the Green Knights, the Huskies had a number of notable performances at Donald J. Schneider Stadium. Freshman Sam Lange (Washington, Illinois) won his first ever college race. He crossed the finish line in 4:02.18 in the men's 1500 meters. Junior Theresa Passe (Eagan, Minnesota) marked a solid start to her season and won the women's 1,500 meters in 4:52.03. Her time was nearly ten seconds ahead of second place and three seconds shy of a personal best.

In middle distance, Jenna Brewer finished first in the 800 meters with a time of 2:23.09. Teammate Lauren Konkel took second. In the same event for the men, freshman Jon Wildey impressed with a time of 2:03.11. Wildey also closed the final leg of the 4x400 meter relay team made up of MTU distance runners. Clayton Sayen, Logan Lukonic, and Robert Dwyer ran the other three legs for a top team time of 3:33.25.

In women's long distance, the Huskies accumulated points with each of the top-4 positions. Emily Byrd topped the group with a winning time of 18:41.23. The men mirrored in the 5,000 meters with four top-5 finishers including Nate Carey, who won with a time of 15:25.45. Carey destroyed his previous personal best time of 15:48.79 by a full 25 seconds.

"St. Norbert won in both the men's and women's overall competition, but we did quite well in all of our focus events," Owen said. "We have a smaller sprint squad, and they picked up a lot of points in events where we had few or no starters. Our top distance guns were taking it easy in anticipation for the Clyde littlefield Texas meet next week, and did pace work to support their teammates."

In the field, Sophomore Cody Tuftee (Oconomowoc, WI) set a new pole vault personal best at 4.5m (14-9.25), good for second place.

Sam Fuhrman also set a personal best in javelin, throwing 48.7m to win the event. St. Norbert excelled in several field events to assist their team victory. Jaxsen Schermacher highlighted the afternoon by breaking his own school record in the pole vault, clearing 15 feet 3 inches.

Michigan Tech outdoor track and field is back in action on March 27 at 93rd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, hosted by University of Texas.