Senior Amanda Putt now holds the top time in Division II in two different events — in addition to the school record she broke.
Putt broke the school record for the 800-meter run after running a 2:09.07 at the Division II Challenge held in Geneva, Ohio.
“She was so amazing, and that was not even her main event,” senior Chelsea Wackernagel said.
Senior Jen Shaffer came in second at 2:13.84. Putt automatically qualified for the national meet and Shaffer hit the provisional mark.
“It looks pretty hopeful for nationals with how many have already provisionally qualified,” Wackernagel said.
Overall, the men’s team came in fifth and the women’s team finished third.
“They were a little more relaxed and a little more aggressive which gave great results,” assistant coach R.P. White said. “All across the board they did great and they are beginning to reap the benefits of their hard work.”
Junior Kathy Dirksen and senior Cat Nass took third and fourth, respectively, in the women’s weight throw with NCAA qualifying marks.
Junior Kayla Caldwell and Wackernagel took first and second in the pole vault. Caldwell also took third in the 200-meter dash at 25.37 seconds.
“You could tell that a lot of the girls were off and that it was not going to be a high jumping day, but it would come down to being the most mentally tough,” Wackernagel said. “Also, that even if you feel a little bit off you have to remember what you have to execute in your jump.”
Junior Adrianna Yancho cleared the high jump at 1.63 meters to take the third-place finish. Freshman Amy Kerst set a personal record at 5:12.55 for the mile run and finished sixth overall.
The men’s team also had great finishes. Senior Nate English took first in the shot put. In the weight throw sophomores John Banovetz and Brett Dailey took second and third place.
Freshman Matt Perkins and seniors Jerry Perkins and Jeff Wysong had top 10 finishes for the men’s 800-meter run. Also, Wysong had a seventh place finish in the 3000-meter run. Sophomore sprinter Maurice Jones took seventh place also in the men’s 200-meter run.
Earlier in the week, the team encountered a setback when freshman Elly Bryon suffered an injury that will not allow her to run for the next few weeks. Shaffer joined the women’s 4×400 relay to fill in for Byron while she is out.
“Jen came over to work with the 4×400 A-team, and it was great to have a distance runner over with the sprinters,” Wackernagel said.
The team did not let an injury discourage them, and they were able to shave four seconds off their finishing time.
“It is impressive that we can have things break down with a relay team and still be able to keep the high level energy and perform well,” Nass said.
The team will be traveling to Grand Valley State University for the next few weeks to compete at a familiar track.
“The team is working every week to make excellence a habit,” Wackernagel said.
