Posted: Apr 23, 2022

Huskies run strong times at Elaine Leigh Invitational

ROCHESTER, Mich. - Jesse Jacobusse remained undefeated this season in the 800 meters and a plethora of Husky runners surpassed personal bests at the two-day, Elaine Leigh Invitational, hosted by Oakland Unversity. Jacobusse crossed the line in 2:11.61, which set an NCAA provisional mark. She edged out Madison Leigh (Oakland - 2:12.46) for first place.

"Jesse has been such a fierce competitor in the 800 meters so far this year," said head coach Kristina Owen. "She does not like to get beat and is capable of chasing down anyone to get the win. I can't wait to see her race in some faster fields and see what she's really capable of."

On the men's side, Sam Lange also knocked on the door of an NCAA provisional mark with his second place, 1500 meter time of 3:51.21. Lange continued to improve in his sophomore season.

After a strong showing last time out, Ryan Schwiderson impressed again in short sprints with personal records in both the 100 and 200 meter dash. Lange cut his 100 meter time from 11.06 to 10.76 and his 200 meters from 22.22 to 22.05. He finished 9th and third respectively.

Added depth in steeplechase this season was a factor again this weekend for the Huskies. Junior Samantha Kurkowski led the women and placed first in the 3000 meter steeple (11:17.60) while sophomore Katelyn Feldpausch crossed fifth (12:38.44). After running against the wind last time out in De Pere, Wisconsin, Kyle Samluk head-manned the men's 3000 meter steeplechase with a second place finish (9:29.38). Freshman Stephen Loparo also cracked the top-five in fourth (9:40.99).

"It was great to see Sam (Kurkowski) put together a much more assertive race in the steeplechase," said assistant coach Robert Young. "It suggests that there's another gear for the GLIAC championships. All the steeplers took a nice step forward. They're getting more comfortable going over the barriers and accelerating out of them."

The Huskies strength in distance events continued Saturday, as Nick Niemi placed first in the men's 5000 meters. Michigan Tech throwers also performed well. Junior Noah Koball hit a new personal best in discus with a third place mark of 43.33 meters.

"We saw a lot of PR's today, and we're looking like we're coming into championship racing form," Owen said. "Next weekend we'll have our top dogs at Drake Relays, and the weekend after that the team will be at GLIAC Championships."

The Drake Relays are scheduled for Wednesday, April 27 in Des Moines, Iowa.