Typing this from the bus! Day 2 of the Summit League Indoor Track and Field Meet was full of surprises, both good and bad, for the Jackrabbits. Here is a recap and some thoughts on the meet.
Jared Vlastuin continued his success from the previous day with wins in the High Jump and Triple Jump. Yes, that is the triple jump and this is the first time this year that Jared has competed in that event. I think he even surprised himself with his jump of 48 feet 2 and 3/4 inches. The high jump was full of drama as Jamario Taylor of Western Illinois brushed the bar on his final attempt at 6-11 and it fell of as he was exiting the pit. Jared made sure the win was legitimate while clearing 7 foot 1 inches, a new school and conference record! These acheivements garnered him the Summit League Male Field Athlete of the Year. Interview Here
Lora Shearer earned the same award on the women's side after her performances on the weekend. After an exciting and tiring day winning the heptathlon, Lora came back the second day to place 4th in the 60m hurdles, 6th in the triple jump, and a tie for third in the high jump. She had finished 2nd place in the hurdles before the race had to be redone because of a timing system failure. Interview Here
The Men's Multi-Event athletes finished up action with the 60m hurdles, pole vault, and 1000m. Freshman Bennett Mercil fell in the hurdles, effectively ending his multi-event. Mike Bredeson made a strong push on day 2 and finished 7th overall.
The men's 60m hurdles saw heavy favorite Matt Tetzlaff of NDSU, a Pierre High School grad, fall and get disqualified. Jacks Brandon Priebe and Matt Dunbar collected 4th and 6th places respectively.
Although no Jackrabbits were involved, I thought the women's 800 was of note. It was a huge battle between Emma Ladwig of USD and Brittany Schandore of NDSU with the former coming out on top. Both women were under the 14 year old conference record.
The Men's 800m saw the Jacks pick up 10 points with 4th, 6th, and 7th place finishes. Lars Mattison again set a personal best by 1 second after setting one in the prelims by an even larger margin. It looks like the Jacks may have found their 5th man for the Drake Relays 4x800.
Freshman Jessica McDonald placed 8th in the 400m to earn a point for the Jacks. Jared Foote gained a 5th place finish in the same event, placing behind 4 Oral Roberts athletes.
In perhaps the biggest surprise of the day, Freshman McKenzie Johnson threw a personal best by over 3 feet to take second place in the shot put. She had been seeded eighth coming into the event.
The women's high jump was the highlight of the day for the Jacks with Mary Wirth taking down her longtime rival, Toni Tollefson of NDSU, to win the event. Lora Shearer and Kali Olson tied for third place to give the Jacks 20 points in the event.
Tera Potts had a similar race to the 3000m in the Mile on day 2. She had a strong finishing kick to place 5th with a time just over 5 minutes. In the Men's race, a tired Mike Krsnak kicked his way into 7th. He competed in the 3000 and DMR the night before and had aspirations of placing in the 5000 later in the day.
The women's 4x4 relay ran well to capture the slow heat in a season best time of 3:56.49. The men's 4x4 relay was eventful with heavy favorite Oral Roberts being tripped by the Bison. NDSU would finish third but ended up being disqualified for the incident. USD went on the win the event by one second over the Jackrabbits. Jared Foote ran a strong anchor leg and cut the distance to the 'Yotes.
The team scores were a disappointment overall. The women were hoping for third and were edged by Southern Utah by 4 points. The men were hoping for second and finished 5th. The men's team scores were a surprise with Southern Utah coming out on top. The T-Birds were extremely strong in the distance races and their leader, Cam Levins, won all four of his races. The favorites, NDSU, finished third.
Results Here
GoJacks Write Up
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