Orr breaks 200-meter indoor school record at Spartan Invite

Dubuque, Iowa – The Pioneer track and field team competed at the University of Dubuque's Spartan Invitational. Teams in attendance included Loras, Augustana, Simpson, Cornell, and Luther. With one week to go until the WIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Pioneers saw one school record fall and numerous personal best times and marks.

Sprints, Hurdles, and Relays

Capitalizing off the competitive field of women sprinters, junior Gwen Orr (Deforest, Wis.) ran a school record-breaking time of 25.69 seconds and took fourth place in the women's 200-meter dash. This time now ranks Orr at No. 11 in the indoor national rankings. Orr also ran in the finals of the women's 55-meter dash, among nationally ranked competitors including reigning indoor 60-meter national champion Gabrielle Noland from Loras. Orr took fifth place with a time of 7.37 seconds, a personal best time.

Riley Bendorf ran a personal best time in the men's 200-meter dash, taking 11^th place with 23.24 seconds. Bendorf also ran a season best time in the men's 400-meter dash, running 51.41 seconds. Teammates John Huntley, Sean Komro, and Ryan Swanson all ran in the 200-meter dash. Huntley finished the race in 23.52 and also ran 52.13 in the 400-meter dash, Komro clocked 23.55 seconds, and Swanson ran 23.74 seconds.

In the 400-meter dash, sophomore Jessica Buss ran a personal best time indoors of 1:02.44 to take sixth place. Teammate Haley Ott ran 1:04.13 for eighth place.

Casey Rielly ran a personal best in the 55-meter hurdles, running a time of 9.14 seconds. In the men's 55-meter hurdles, Charlie Gifford won the event in 7.64 seconds. Teammates Cole Stugelmeyer and Brett Schommer also ran in the final heat. Stugelmeyer took fourth place with 7.95 seconds. Schommer ran for sixth place in 8.16 seconds.

The 4x200-meter and 4x400-meter relays were ran by the Pioneer men. The 4x200-meter relay of Dane Adams, Schommer, Cole Gore, and Stugelmeyer ran 1:36.60 to win the event. The 4x400-meter relay of Zach Frei, Paul Rapp, Jacob Downing, and Matt Hokanson ran 3:21.93 for second place, and establishing a season best time.

Distance

Tyler Doering ran a personal best time of 2:00.70 in the men's 800-meter run. Teammate Jason Voelker followed in 2:01.22. In the men's mile, Ben Claas ran 4:45.20, freshman Dan Jankiewicz followed in 4:47.69, and Chris East ran 4:50.64. Senior Evan Krug finished in sixth place in the men's 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:22.06.

In the women's mile, Johanna Meister ran 5:19.24 to take fourth place. Caitlyn Ifft ran a season best time in the mile with a time of 5:22.31, taking fifth place. In the women's 3,000-meter race, Samantha Meyer ran a personal best time of 12:23.33.

Jumps

Tying for second place in the high jump, Noah Steiner jumped 1.96m (6-5). Teammate Bryce Bierman cleared 1.91m (6-3.25), coming in sixth place.

Jordan Meciej tied her personal best mark in the women's pole vault, clearing 3.50m (11-5.75), and took second place. Both Casey Rielly and Catt Moeller finished tied for fourth place clearing 3.05m (10-00). In the men's pole vault, Alex Wright took second place clearing 4.08m (13-4.5). Jacob Erickson finished in fourth place clearing 3.93m (12-10.75).

In the men's long jump, Adam Wildman finished in fourth place with a jump of 6.52m (21-4.75). Owen Miller, a freshman, finished in sixth place with 6.32m (20-9). Freshman Kelli Schneider took sixth place in the triple jump. Schneider marked 10.42m (34-2.25).

Throws

In the women's shot put, senior Rachel Beuthin threw 12.76m (41-10.5) and took fourth place. Brianna Hall followed with a throw of 12.72m (41-8.75). Murphy Bleymeyer finished with a personal best throw of 11.87m (38-11.5) for seventh place. In the women's weight throw, Beuthin finished in sixth place with a personal best throw of 14.60m (47-11). Bleymeyer followed with a throw of 14.57m (47-9.75). Hall threw 13.74m (45-1) for ninth place.

Cole Eastlick finished in fourth place in the men's shot put. Eastlick threw 14.97m (49-1.5). Alex Girard was sixth place with a throw of 14.79m (48-6.25) and freshman Justin Eichler threw 14.26m (46-9.5) for seventh place. Pioneers also took eighth and ninth place in the shot put – Tyler Bacon threw 13.99m (45-10.75) and Ben Veverka threw 13.76m (45-1.75). Alexander Walechka won the men's weight throw with a throw of 17.00m (55-9.25). Veverka took third in the weight throw with a personal best mark of 16.24m (53-3.5). Girard and Eastlick threw for sixth and seventh place respectively.

Among the seven teams in attendance, the Pioneers placed among the top three teams in both the men's and women's team scores. The Pioneers will compete at the WIAC Indoor Track and Field Championships next weekend, Feb. 28 – 29. The indoor championships will be hosted by the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh.