The Red Raider track and field teams competed at the BVU Open Friday evening and the women's team placed third out of 12 teams while the men's team finished in fifth place out of 12 teams. The women's team scored 100 total points and recorded 13 top five finishes. The men's team totaled 41.5 points and had five athletes finish in the top five. Doane College won both the women's and men's team titles with 215.5 and 254 total points, respectively.
Emily De Weerd recorded three top five finishes on the evening to lead NWC. She placed third in both the 55m dash (7.71) and 200m dash (27.42). De Weerd also placed fifth in the 55m hurdles with a time of 9.08. Charity Miles and Lori Wolf placed first and second in the one mile run with times of 5:21.36 and 5:33.14. Olivia Johnson and Laura Jacobson also took first in their respective events. Johnson set a new school record and qualified for indoor nationals in the 800m run with a time of 2:16.06. She broke Vonda Velgersdyk's record set back in 1986. Jacobson set a new school record in the 1000m with a time of 2:59.13, breaking her own mark set earlier this year. Stephanie Powell placed second in the 1000m with a time of 3:11.69. Sara Hess placed fourth in the 5000m run with a time of 19:31.10. In the field events, Kaitlin Beaver provisionally qualified for nationals in the high jump by clearing 5-03. She placed third in the event and broke a 25-year old record set by Patti Olsen. Rae Taylor and Angela Wiersma placed fifth in the weight throw and triple jump. Taylor recorded a toss of 13.91 while Wiersma jumped 10.42m. Finally, the 4x400m relay team of Jess Regan, Lori Wolf, Olivia Johnson and Laura Jacobson provisionally qualified with a third place finish and a time of 4:07.92.
On the men's side, Dan Walhof and Kyle Sauter provisionally qualified in their respective events. Walhof won the 3,000m run with a time of 8:52.22 while Sauter placed second in the 55m hurdles with a time of 8:02. Kevin Krueger finished fourth in the 600m run with a time of 1:24.6. Mark Den Hartog and Michael Ortmeier placed fifth in the 1000m run and pole vault, respectively. Den Hartog crossed the line in 2:38.62 while Ortmeier cleared 3.81m.
The Red Raiders will next compete at the John Dalton Invite next Saturday in Vermillion, S.D.
