Sophomores Brooke Wozniak and Breanna Mc Mullen led the women’s track team to a victory Saturday in the six-team Falcon Open at UW-River Falls.
“It was a fun meet for us,” Wozniak said. “We had a lot of personal bests and career bests.”
Wozniak took first and provisionally qualified for NCAA nationals in the shot put with a heave of 41 feet, 2.25 inches.
She also won the discus with a throw of 131-11 and triple jump with a distance of 33-8.
Mc Mullen also met provisional qualifying standards with her first-place time of one minute, 3.62 seconds in the 400 intermediate hurdles.
Mc Mullen notched her second victory in the meet with a 15.28 effort in the 100-meter high hurdles.
The Blugolds racked up 221.5 points, 55.5 points ahead of runner-up University of St. Thomas (Minn.).
Last season, UW-River Falls edged Eau Claire by less than two points to win the meet, but ‘Golds earned revenge this time around as they blasted the Falcons, which scored 159 points.
“I think all of us remembered (last year),” Wozniak said.
Coach Tracy Yengo agreed that the team was pumped to beat River Falls.
“It’s amazing the difference one year can make,” she said.
Four other Blugolds were victorious Saturday.
Freshmen Melissa Paulson and Jane-Marie Ovanin won the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 5,000-meter run, respectively.
Sophomores Melissa Wright and Mary Dettwiler claimed first in the 1,500-meter run and 400-meter dash, respectively.
The 400-meter and 1,600-meter relay teams also came out on top.
Sophomore Heather Lipinski grabbed second place in the 1,500-meter and 3,000-meter runs.
Saturday’s triumph was the second straight for the Blugolds, who won the UWEC Snow Open on April 6.
The Blugolds will head to Northfield, Minn. Saturday to compete in the Manitou Track and Field Classic hosted by St. Olaf College.
Yengo said she is hoping the team can crack the top three. Last season the Blugolds finished seventh out of 20 teams.