SEWARD, Neb. - Northern State headed south to get some time on the track.
The NSU track and field team competed at the Concordia Invitational on Saturday. The NSU women finished fourth out of 10 teams with 81 points. The Northern men placed fifth out of the 10 teams with 49 points.
"We said at the beginning of the meet that we really needed to take advantage of the weather and for the most part, I think that is exactly what we did," Northern State coach Kevin Bjerke said. "We knew we were out of the snow and we had to take advantage of that."
Several NSU athletes took advantage of the weather. NSU senior hurdler, Luke Hauert, finished first in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of :14.35 seconds. The time improves on his NCAA provisional qualifying time that he got last weekend. Hauert also finished second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of :53.88. The NCAA provisional qualifying standard is :53.30.
"Just overall, Luke had a phenomenal day," Bjerke said. "He also anchored our (400-meter relay team)."
Jill Schaefer and Hannah Treinen went first and second in the 400-meter hurdles for the second meet in a row. Schaefer won with a time of 1:03.64, while Treinen was right behind with a time of 1:04.75. The the two hurdlers both inched closer to reaching their personal bests.
"It was great to see them battle," Bjerke said. "That is such a tough, grueling race. So watching them go one-two in a race as hard as the 400 hurdles, shows how much they put into it."
NSU multi-sport athlete Mikayla Barondeau won the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:44.89. It was not a personal best for Barondeau, but Bjerke said it was a good time for this early in the season. It was also Barondeau's first time getting to even try the event this season.
"So considering that," Bjerke said. "She actually ran really, really well."
Hunter Kopff won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 15:56.30. Eric Rasmussen had a time of 15:26.41, but he was running unattached and thus Kopff was considered the winner.
"He was very happy," Bjerke said about Kopff. "We were both very happy with how he ran."
Northern is tentatively scheduled to host a meet this Saturday at Swisher Field.
|Northern State Results|
|Women's Results|
Team Points: Doane College 209 , Concordia University 144, Nebraska Wesleyan 83, Northern State 81, Wayne State 75, Hastings College 61 , Nebraska-Kearney 56, Colby Community College 26, Midland University 113, York College 3.
100-Meter Dash: 3, Lindsey Fluharty, :12.71; 5, Maria Franker, :12.77.
200-Meter Dash: 4, Lindsey Fluharty, :27.01; 9, Maria Franker, :27.29.
400-Meter Dash: 5, Nicolia Edwards, 1:01.20.
3,000-Meter Steeplechase: 1, Mikayla Barondeau, 11:44.89.
400-Meter Relay: 2, Northern State (Lindsey Fluharty, Nicolia Edwards, Jill Schaefer, Maria Franker), :49.25.
1,600-Meter Relay: 3, Northern State (Nicolia Edwards, Hannah Treinen, Sami Smith, Jill Schaefer), 4:04.57.
High Jump: 3, Gena Burley, 5-2.
Long Jump: 9, Leandra Schlecht, 16-3.
Discus Throw: 7, Yvonne Freese, 136-7.
Javelin Throw: 5, Kaitlyn Sturlaugson, 118-2.
100-Meter Hurdles: 2, Jill Schaefer, :14.72.
400-Meter Hurdles: 1, Jill Schaefer, 1:03.64; 2, Hannah Treinen, 1:04.75.
|Men's Results|
Team Points: Doane College 172, Concordia University 154, Nebraska-Kearney 152, Hastings College 64, Northern State 49, Midland University 44, Colby Community College 43, Wayne State 21, Nebraska Wesleyan 16, York College 5.
200-Meter Dash: 5, Andrew Johnson, :22.57.
800-Meter Run: 3, Mark Gilkerson, 1:57.37; 10, Jacob Arechigo, 2:00.19.
5,000-Meter Run: 1, Hunter Kopff, 15:56.30.
400-Meter Relay: 4, Northern State (Ben Moen, Andrew Johnson, Eric Peterson, Luke Hauert), :43.51.
1,600-Meter Relay: 5, Northern State (Andrew Johnson, Nicholas Lindwurm, Jacob Arechigo, Eric Peterson), 3:28.18; 9, Northern State (Mark Gilkerson, Ben Moen, Dillon Dahl, Monte Meyerink), 3:47.50.
Long Jump: 9, Dillon Dahl, 20-3 .
Javelin Throw: 7, Dillon Dahl, 139-2.
110-Meter Hurdles: 1, Luke Hauert, :14.35.
400-Meter Hurdles: 2, Luke Hauert, :53.88.