The Coyote track and field team competed at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Feb. 15 for their final meet before the Indoor Summit League Championships next weekend.
Two school records were broken during the meet. Senior Ethan Fenchel bested his previous record in the weight throw, which landed at 11 feet and ¾ inches. Fenchel placed highest among the collegiate athletes competing.
The second record came from sophomore Macy Heinz in the 600-meter race. She completed the race with a time of 1:32.71, which broke the seven-year-old top time. Senior Mallory Fine just missed the record by a few hundredths of a second. Fine finished third with a time of 1:33.66.
“The 600m was a good opportunity to get prepared for the conference meet. It was nice to run a little shorter and faster race for some additional speed work. I have only run a 600m one other time, so I enjoyed getting my feet wet in another race distance,” Heinz said.
Heinz also used her teammate, Fine, to help get her through the race.
“My teammate Mallory Fine really helped push me through the race as well. I think both of us had solid performances that set us up well for the Championships next weekend,” Heinz said.
Senior Joe Reagan jumped his way to third on the Coyote top-ten list. His leap of 24-7 won the long jump and became a new personal record.
“I thought I did very well in long jump. I came within three inches from the school record and beat my previous personal best mark by five inches,” Reagan said.
The junior pair, Chris Nilsen and Helen Falda swept the pole vault events on the men and women’s sides. Falda cleared the height of 13-7 ¾ on her first attempt, securing her first-place finish.
The Coyote women took the top three places in the mile. In first place, senior Megan Billington won with a time of 4:56.33. Following close behind was senior Madeline Huglen with 4:57.41. Sophomore Jonna Bart finished third with a time of 5:01.16.
In the women’s weight throw senior Lara Boman took first, launching the weight a distance of 66-10.
All under nine seconds in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, three Coyotes placed in the top three. Seniors Alanisse Williams and Brittany Kerr clocked in at 8.83 seconds and redshirt-freshman Madason Tessier followed with a time of 8.93 seconds.
“I thought I did well in my hurdle race. I was .01 away from a PR (personal record) so that was a good confidence booster going in to conference next week,” Williams said.
Another junior pair took the top two spots in the women’s 60 meters race. Samara Spencer secured first clocking in at 7.58 seconds. And Tasheka Gordon trailed with a time of 7.70 seconds.
“I think I did well for that meet. I was only 0.04 seconds away from my school record time in the 60m. The long jump is a work in progress as I was trying out new steps,” Spencer said.
Senior Ben Hammer threw the shot put 60-7 ¼, a new personal best.
“The meet helped me to get refocused and push myself one last time in competition before conference. The last meet before conference is geared at perfecting techniques and building confidence for the big day, something that I think was much needed,” Spencer said.
The meet was the last stop in preparation for this weekend’s Summit League Championship for indoor track, which will be hosted by SDSU in Brookings, S.D. on February 22 and 23.
