They may not have been competing in the same place at the same time, but the UW-Eau Claire men’s and women’s track team both were busy over the weekend in Iowa.
While the majority of both teams competed in the Simpson Twilight Open at Indianola, Iowa, three women’s relay teams and men’s shot putter senior John Schuna were just up the road taking part in the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
At the Simpson Twilight Open, it was senior Adam Condit who led the way for the men with the only Blugold first place in the 1,500-meter run.
| “The team as a whole did really well both individually and as a whole.” –Liz Faller Sophomore |
Condit finished with a time of 3 minutes, 58.96 seconds, narrowly missing his season-best time.
“I think our distance team ran really well,” he said. “We had a lot of personal bests. In the sprints we did pretty well. Our top guys are injured, so they weren’t able to run. Distance got the job done for us.”
For the women it was senior Ashley Nelson, who ran away with a pair of top finishes for the Blugolds. She finished second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.48 seconds, but didn’t stop there. She also turned in a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.99 seconds.
Other notable finishers for the women were freshman Jessica Owens with a fourth place in the high jump, sophomore Liz Faller with a fourth place in the 100-meter hurdles and sophomore Paula Crossfield with a fifth place in the discus throw.
“During the meet, I had to be self-motivated to do my best,” Faller said. “The team as a whole did really well both individually and as a whole.”
Notables for the men were senior Shaun Marek, who scored a pair of seventh-place finishes in the long and triple jumps, and junior Nate Hall with a season best time of 10:20.29 in the steeplechase, which was good enough to earn him an eighth place finish.
A little further north in Des Moines, Schuna, along with a trio of women’s relay teams, competed in the Drake Relays with a host of Div. I schools.
In the shot put, Schuna’s toss of 53 feet 1 inch earned him fifteenth place.
“I didn’t perform as well as I had hoped at the Drake Relays,” Schuna said. “In the conference meet this weekend in La Crosse, I would like to win the shot put.”
Schuna placed first in the shot put last year and two years before that.
The Drake Relays, the Simpson Twilight Open and a full week of practice lead the Blugolds to the final stretch of their outdoor season, the WIAC conference meet this weekend in La Crosse.
Both individual and relay teams for the men and women will hope to extend their season in La Crosse on Friday and Saturday as they look to qualify for the Div. III national meet May 26 to 28 in Wartburg, Iowa.
