DSU Track Makes an Impact at ISU and Wayne

Trent Lutmer

The dynamic DSU men’s and women’s track teams took different paths this weekend where 8 athletes traveled to Ames Iowa, for the Iowa State Open on Friday and Saturday while the rest of the team traveled to Wayne, Nebraska for the Wildcat Open on Saturday.

Iowa State was packed full of competitors and of excitement. With stand-out performances on the men’s side, sophomore Andy Coy placed 3rd overall in the 800 meter run with a time 1:54.91.  With that time, Coy automatically qualified for the NAIA Indoor National Meet.  Junior Andy Quenzer placed 22nd with a time of 1:59.20 and senior Jerad Schlobohm finished 40th with a time of 2:02.49. Senior Devon Berkness placed 8th in Men’s seeded race for the 5,000 meter run.  He ran a time of 15:03.93 which gives him the provisional mark and a trip to the NAIA National Meet. Berkness also placed 36th in the mile with a time of 4:31.43.

On the women’s side, sophomore Brittany Young placed 5th overall in the Women’s 800 meter run with a time of 2:16.79. With that time she also automatically qualifies for the NAIA National meet and is ranked 4th overall for the NAIA Indoor National. “The race felt great, I got through 400 fast and I tried to finish as hard as I could. I thought everyone else did well and it was a good experience for all of us competing at ISU,” said Young about at the ISU meet. Senior Danielle Rowe finished 6th place in the Women’s High Jump with a jump of 5 feet 5 inches.  With that jump she also automatically qualifies for the NAIA National’s and currently ranked 2nd overall.

DSU Track
Senior Devon Berkness, sophomore Brittany Young, and sophomore Andy Coy qualified for the NAIA Indoor National Championships at the ISU Meet. Photo by Danielle Rowe.

While in Wayne, sophomore Stacey Berg placed 6th overall in the 60 meter dash with time of 7.40 seconds.  He also placed 3rd in the long jump with a jump of 21 feet 11 ¾ inches.  Senior Phil Carmody placed 6th in the long jump with a jump of 20 feet 8 inches.  He also placed 16th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.21 and a 22nd finish in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.65 seconds. Carmody stated I felt it went pretty well.  I think we did well as a team and we will keep improving for the rest of the year. Sophomore Craig Bailey jumped 6 feet ¾ inches in the high jump to take 3rd overall and Freshman Nate Schutz tied for 4th place with a jump of 5 feet 10 ¾ inches. Freshman Gabe Samuelson placed 8th in the 400 with a time of 55.75 seconds.  He also placed 15th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.06 seconds and 18th in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.58 seconds. Freshman Ryan Huizenga placed 5th in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.93 seconds.  He also placed 17th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.31 seconds. n the mile, sophomore Michael Hoffman placed 12th and freshman Kace Groff 14th.  Their times were 4:54.52 and 5:01.56 respectively.  Hoffman and Groff also placed 6th and 7th in the 1,000 meter run with times 2:51.37 and 2:53.23 respectively. Freshman Shane Widby placed 13th in the shot put with a throw of 37 feet and 5 ¾ inches.  Widby also placed 14th in the weight throw 36 feet and ¾ inches. Freshman Ryan Gimbel, Sophomore Jeff Reiger and Freshman Trevor Rosstznecht also placed 15th, 16th, and 17th with throws of 34 feet and 10 ¼ inches, 34 feet and ¾ inches, and 30 feet 10 ¼ inches.

On the Women’s side, senior Amber Krogstad placed 5th in the long jump with a jump of 16 feet 5 ¼ inches.  She also placed 9th in the high jump, jumping 4 feet 11 ¾ inches. Senior Brandi Gau placed 4th in the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.54 seconds and 6th place in the 200 meter dash with a time of 28.65 seconds. Sophomore Summer Bronson placed 6th in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 10.30 seconds.  She also placed 11th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 29.38 seconds.  Sophomore Laura Porch placed 9th in the 60 meter dash 8.72 seconds and 18th in the 200 meter dash with a time of 30.37 seconds. Sophomore Claire Beck placed 3rd, junior Amy Pheneger placed 4th, freshman Nicole Jurrens, and junior Sara Schultz in the 400 meter dash with times; 1:05.42, 1:07.52, 1:11.11, and 1:15.74 respectively. Junior Karisa Hartje placed 3rd in the 600 meter dash with a time of 1:53.71 and 26th in the 200 meter dash. Brittany Pearson placed 9th overall in the weight throw, with a toss of 38 feet 9 inches.  Pearson also placed 11th in the shot put with a throw of 31 feet.

Next Saturday, the team will travel to Storm Lake, Iowa for the Buena Vista/Graphic Edge Open.