The Wildcat track and field team competed at the Cardinal Invite on Friday, Jan. 31, at Saginaw Valley State University.
The ’Cats earned season bests as well as career bests.
Junior Ebony Young won two events with a first-place finish in the long jump (5.28 meters) and a first-place finish in the triple jump (11.48 meters). Young added a second-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles, receiving a season best time of 9.35 seconds.
Young said she thinks she performed well, but it was still not her best with the jumps. She said she was happy with her hurdle race and her times are getting better each meet and it felt great to place first in the long jump and triple jump.
“I was told those teams were in our conference,” Young said. “So it was nice to see I was in the top within those schools, at least.”
Junior Brittni Wirtz acquired first in the 60-meter dash with a season best of 7.82 seconds. Wirtz also got a career best in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.18 seconds.
Wirtz said she was happy with how she performed.
“I ran my best time for the indoor 200-meter,” Wirtz said. “[I] improved my time for the season in the 60-meter.”
Wirtz said she was happy when she took the gold in the 60-meter sprint, as it gave her a boost of confidence going into the Lake Superior Challenge.
“I was happy with it,” Wirtz said. “Especially since it was our first look at some of the conference competition.”
Junior Larissa Halonen got a season best with a time of 5:22.18 in the one-mile run. Junior Emily Allen (10:52.00) and freshman Shannon Flynn (11:42.25) both had season best times in the 3,000-meter run.
Flynn said quite a few athletes got season bests and the whole team performed well.
Flynn also said to be able to achieve a personal record is the best feeling.
“It makes all the hard work we do in practice worth it,” Flynn said. “After my race I was just so excited and so thankful.”
Flynn was not the only freshman to earn a season best. Freshman Jasmine Williams came in second place in the shot put with a season best of 12.30 meters. Williams also got a career best in the weight throw (12.93 meters), coming in ninth place.
Next week the ’Cats will compete in the Lake Superior Challenge.
According to the College of St. Scholastica website, the teams competing are: Bemidji State, Bethany Lutheran, Concordia-St.Paul, Lakehead, Minnesota-Duluth, Northern Michigan University, St. Scholastica and Wisconsin-Superior.
Young said going into the Lake Superior Challenge, she feels excited and confident she can only get better.
Young said some goals she wants to achieve next week are to keep progressing in hurdles.Young said she would like to get some season bests for long jump and triple jump, which is her favorite event.
Wirtz said she would like to be more powerful in the beginning of her start and drive out farther in the upcoming meets.
Flynn said in order to get more fit and prepare for the middle of the race she is working on her endurance.
“As a team we are all working hard to improve before the GLIAC meet at the end of the month,” Flynn said.
The Wildcats will take part in the Lake Superior Challenge, beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, in Duluth, Minn.
