Northwestern to Host Red Raider Open

The Event... Northwestern will host its annual Red Raider Open track and field meet on Saturday, April 10 at DeValois Stadium. The 2010 event will begin at 10:00am and will conclude at approximately 5:00 pm.

Schedule of Events and Open Information... The field events get underway at 10:00 am, beginning with the women's hammer throw and the men's javelin. Running events are set to begin at 10:30 am with the running of the 10,000m. Click on the following link for the complete schedule of events along with some additional Red Raider Open information. Schedule of Events

The Teams...Nine teams are scheduled to compete, including seven from the GPAC. In addition to conference teams Northwestern, Dordt, Briar Cliff, Morningside, U. of Sioux Falls, Mount Marty and Dakota Wesleyan, Buena Vista and Dakota State are also scheduled to compete.

Last Year... Four Raiders captured first place finishes and two NWC athletes qualified for nationals in their respective events at last year's Red Raider Open.

Charity Miles turned in a record-breaking performance in the 10,000m with a first place time of 37:56.64, nearly three minutes better then the second place runner. Miles broke the previous stadium record set in 2003 by Nicole De Roin (Hastings) and also qualified for outdoor nationals. She then finished second in the 5000m with a time of 18:44 while Sara Hess placed fourth in the event with a time of 19:26.

Logan Ogden qualified for nationals with a first place finish in the discus with a toss of 160-04. The sophomore also finished second in the shot put with a throw of 47-08.5.

Emily DeWeerd took first in the 100m hurdles, crossing the finish line in 16.05, over one second faster then the second place runner. The junior from Ireton, Iowa, then placed fourth in the 200m dash with a time of 26.85. Matt Roesner (Orange City, Iowa) won the javelin with a toss of 167-01 and teammate Kasey Summerer placed fourth with a toss of 134-00.

Other top performances for the Raiders include a second place finish in the 100m dash by Luke Hofmeyer with a time of 11.5. and Jordan Langer placing fifth in the 200m dash with a time of 22.9. Shannon Bowar placed fifth in the 100m hurdles with a time of 18.11 and Derrick Rensink finished fourth in the 110m hurdles with a time of 16.5. Corrie Fautsch (3rd) and Stacey Dietrich (5th) placed in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:10 and 1:11, respectively. Akacia Wentworth finished fourth in the women's 3000m steeplechase with a time of 13:29. Danielle Fry placed third in the discus with a toss of 132-09 and later placed fourth in the javelin (92-05). Teammate Elizabeth Stevens finished fifth in the javelin with a throw of 90-05. Angela Wiersema finished second in the triple jump (34-07) and Halee Wilken tied for fourth in the pole vault (9-08). Kara Den Herder finished third in the hammer throw with a toss of 141-03.

Last Time Out...The Northwestern College track and field teams opened its outdoor season with a solid showing at the Vance Butler Invitational hosted by Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D. Kendra DeJong led the Red Raiders with three top five finishes, including a first place showing in the high jump. In total, Northwestern turned in 11 top five performances and a total of 27 entries placed in the top 10.

The freshman from Hospers, Iowa, claimed top honors in the high jump with a school record leap of 5-09.25. DeJong is seeded first nationally in the event at this time. She also finished fifth in the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.89 and then ran the third leg of the women's 4x400m relay that placed second with a time of 4:01.17 and met the NAIA provisional qualifying standard. Other relay team members include Stacey Dietrich, Ana Morgan and Krystina Smith. Dietrich also took third in the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.54 while Smith placed seventh in the 400m (61.51).

Below are all the top 10 finishers for NWC:

Up Next... Northwestern will run at the Sioux City Relays on Friday and Saturday, April 16 and 17.