Over the weekend, the NMU Wildcats track and field team traveled down to Oshkosh, Wis., to compete in the UW-Oshkosh Titans Invitational.
The team overall went without a score; however, eight Wildcats came home with first-place finishes during the meet.
Starting off in the field events, Wilme Els came in first in the javelin throw. Els threw for the winning distance of 39.45m.
In the triple jump, the Wildcats secured both first and second place. Sophomore Sofi Diop earned first place with a jump of 11.73m. Coming in second was freshman Alayna Vandegriff, who jumped a total distance of 11.63m.
In the pole vault, three wildcats finished in the top five. In second place with a vault of 3.50m was Kaitlin Smith. Following Smith in fourth was Vandegriff, who vaulted 3.35m. The final Wildcat to place in the event was junior Emily Czeiszperger, tying for fourth with a vault of 3.35m.
In the long jump, two Wildcats placed second and third. Crystal Walker took second with a jump of 5.55m, and Diop jumped 5.47m to secure third-place.
The team also had two Wildcats compete in the seven-event race, the heptathlon. Elizabeth Simpson placed ninth overall, and Eva Zonca finished third overall with a total of 3,747 points.
On the track, the Wildcats also saw plenty of success.
Ciara Ostrenga took second in the 200m dash with a time of 25.47 seconds. Ostrenga was also a member of the winning 4x100m relay team.
The 4x100m team for this meet was made up of Ostrenga, Walker, Ahna Larson, and Ellyse Wolfrath. The team finished in 49.10 seconds, earning first place.
Larson also placed first in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:02.
Walker and Diop competed in the 100m hurdles, placing first and third, respectively. Walker won with a time of 14.32 seconds, while Diop followed close behind with a time of 14.97 seconds.
The Wildcats also claimed a victory in the steeplechase, as freshman Anya VanSweden took home first-place with a time of 11:36.
Next, the team will head west to Los Angeles, where they will spend the next few days competing in various meets across the area.
First, the team will compete in the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate in Long Beach, before bouncing around to other meets in Los Angeles.
After the weekend out west, the team will return home before hitting the road again.
This time, the team won’t have far to travel, as they will head to St. Norberts in De Pere, Wis. After this meet, the regular season will officially conclude, and the team will move into the GLIAC and NCAA outdoor championships.
