Cosby Soars Past MTU Pole Vault Record at Phil Esten Challenge
LA CROSSE, Wis. – Freshman Landon Cosby rewrote the school record books with his vault of 15-9.0 (4.80m) as the Michigan Tech track & field team turned out two provisional qualifying times to go with well over a dozen personal-bests at the Phil Esten Challenge over the weekend.
"The facility at UW La Crosse is top notch and their staff put on a fantastic meet for us" head coach Kristina Owen said. "We had a great weekend and we're coming home with a new school record in the men's pole vault, a new provisional qualifying mark in the women's 800m and the women's 10,000m and an impressive 18 personal-bests across the board."
Day One
Noah Koball posted the second-best performance of his career in the discus throw, with his heave of 145-0 (44.20m) coming on his fourth attempt. Max Missina was close behind with a personal-best throw of 142-7 (43.47m) as the duo placed third and fourth, respectively.
The Huskies ended day one with a bang with impressive performances in the 10,000m. Michelle Bollini ran a massive personal-best, with her NCAA Provisional Qualifying time of 36:07.85, placing fourth overall. Her time was nearly 45 seconds faster than her previous personal-best. Hannah Loughlin made her 10,000m debut, placing ninth overall in 37:17.94.
I was very impressed with Michelle's race," assistant head coach Robert Young said, "I knew she was ready to make a run at the provisional qualifying time but didn't expect she'd smash it by that much. It feels good to see her get the 10k so right."
Following the women's race, it was the men's turn to tackle the 25-lap race. Tucker Ringhand led the way for the Huskies with his 10,000m debut time of 30:44.07. Nick Mckenzie placed 13th in the fast section with a new personal-best time of 30:55.57. In the first heat of the men's 10,000m, Lucas Betzoldt set a new personal-best with his time of 32:18.19.
"It was Tucker's debut at the 10k distance and a pretty good one at that," Young added. "The length of the race seemed to catch up to him late since he hasn't been targeting the 10k this spring. This should set him up well to rip a 5k later and he will have learned a lot for the next time he runs a 10k on the track."
Day Two
The second day was highlighted by the men's pole vault school record falling as freshman Landon Cosby cleared 15-9.00 (4.80m) on his second attempt, nearly clearing 16-0.75 to improve on the new school record mark. Cody Tuftee also had chances to surpass the school record but ultimately bowed out after his third attempt, marking his clearance of 15-3, ensuring fifth-place in the event.
"We had a pretty exciting day in the pole vault with both Cody and Landon jumping at the school record," graduate assistant coach Dylan Gaines mentioned. "Unfortunately, Cody just missed the bar, but Landon was able to clear 4.80m for the record and barely grazed the next height for a miss at 4.90m. It's great to see the way this whole crew pulls together to support each other at every meet, it really sets us up for success."
The Huskies flexed in the sprints as Ashley Plum won the women's 200m dash, clocking in at 25.78, earlier in the day, she placed eighth in the 400m (1:00.68), winning her heat by well over a second. Both times were personal-bests for Plum.
Ryan Schwiderson posted a runner-up finish in the men's 100m dash garnering a shiny personal-best of 10.81 against a stacked finals field. Schwiderson returned in the 200m dash running a near seasons-best time of 22.10.
"Our sprinters performed very well today," graduate assistant coach Luke Moore said. "It is very hard to chase fast times in cold conditions but we managed to achieve just that."
The metric mile duo of Sam Lange and Clayton Sayen fell short of their goals but still recorded a 1-2 finish as Lange sustained the lead following the pacers departure after two laps. The two ran 3:49.71 and 3:50.14, respectively, to take gold and silver in the race.
"Sam Lange and Clayton Sayen continue to impress in the 1,500m," Owen said. "It was just a little too cold out to run the fastest times."
"There were some very good runners in their heat so to finish how they did was no small task," Young added.
Freshman Nik Thomas joined the duo in the fast section, shaving a second off his personal-best from two weeks ago, running 4:00.07.
Jesse Jacobusse put on a show in the fast section of the women's 800m, lowering her personal-best time of 2:10.39 dramatically to win the race. Following a 1:08.26 through the first 400m, Jacobusse continued to drop the hammer over the second lap, clocking a blazing 1:02.14.
"Jesse's new 800m time moves her up the qualification list nicely," Owen mentioned. "She's absolutely got more in the tank though–her splits of 68-62 is certainly not a normal way to run a fast 800m."
"After being completely boxed in at 300m, she went out of the back of the field to get around the group heading into the bell lap," Young added. "She proceeded to blast a 62 to leave everyone behind and somehow manage a new PR. I'm excited for what she's about to do in this race next time."
Jenna Brewer joined Jacobusse in the fast section of the 800m, running a season's-best time of 2:18.01 to place sixth overall.
The men's 5,000m showed a similar result to that of the 5,000m at the Golden Grizzly Invite with Stanley Elder leading a pack of six Huskies. Elder won the event with a new personal-best time of 15:08.52. Sam Marshall (15:09.12), Sawyer Fowler (15:12.19), Michael Marshall (15:15.57) and Isaac Steers (15:31.93) also ran to new personal-bests.
"We had a lot of great performances and new PRs today, but I'm particularly proud of the pack we had in the men's 5k," Owen said. "The men showcased the depth of our distance squad and we're in a good position for next year's cross country season, even though we'll be graduating some of our current top student-athletes."
Karina Madigan ran away from the field in the second heat of the 400m hurdles, being rewarded with a new personal-best time of 1:08.28.
Up Next
The Huskies will return to action on May 3-5 for the GLIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by Davenport University.