The Wildcat track and field team will compete in the Rex Foster Invite on Sunday, April 10 in Whitewater, Wis.
The Wildcats competed in the 75th annual Augustana Viking Olympics on Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2 with three Wildcats earning titles and another 10 placing in the top five in their respective individual events.
“The team competed very well for the beginning of the outdoor season,” head coach Jenny Ryan said. “The weather was less than ideal with 20-30 mph winds and gusts of 40-45 mph.”
Sophomore Ine Mylle won both the triple jump and the 100-meter hurdles, freshman Michelle Juergen set an NCAA provisional mark in the high jump while claiming a victory and sophomore Kameron Burmeister finished first in the 5,000-meter run, clocking in at 17:59.77.
“I think we really surprised ourselves as to how well we were able to do even though it was a difficult day,” Burmeister said.
As the team, the ‘Cats placed second in the six-team field, totaling 213 points. Winona State finished first with 423 points while Augustana finished third with 172 points.
Four Wildcats took second-place finishes: Juergen in the long jump, junior Avadon James in the 100-meter dash, Kieren Becker in the 1,500-meter run and Sarah Goble in the 5,000-meter run.
“The team showed their toughness and competitive spirit with some very good results despite the difficult conditions,” Ryan said.
The Rex Foster Invite was originally scheduled for this Friday, April 8 but was changed to Sunday because of the forecast.
“We are preparing for this meet by recovering well from last weekend and then getting some good training this week,” Burmeister said.
The Wildcats will be facing the University of Wisconsin Whitewater, the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and a few other schools. The official list of schools has not been released.
“The team is looking forward to competing again and continuing to prepare for the GLIAC Championships at the end of the season,” Ryan said. “It will also be nice to compete in a meet with a little better weather.”
Last season, the Wildcats competed in the Rex Foster Invite and won seven events and finished fourth out of eight teams.
“This outdoor season should be very exciting for the team as I believe we just keep getting stronger,” Ryan said. “I am very happy with where we are at this early in the season and excited to see what we can do this season.”
