SUPERIOR, Wis. – The Yellowjacket women's track and field team posted a big day Friday.
At the end of the first day of action at the 2024 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Indoor Track and Field Championships, the Yellowjackets, looking to defend their title from a year ago, held a 17-point lead (76-59) lead over second place Northwestern.
Saturday, the Yellowjackets knew what they needed to do, and despite not winning any events on the second day, got the job done to secure the program's second straight title.
The Yellowjackets pulled away Saturday, posting a total of 149 points to win the second indoor title in program history. The Yellowjackets finished 37 points clear of Bethany Lutheran and Northwestern, who tied for second place with 112 points each. Crown, with 96 points and Martin Luther with 79 points rounded out the top five.
Friday the Yellowjackets were paced by the distance runners, and they had a strong day again Saturday, with four runners occupying the top six places in the 3,000 meters.
Simone Stephens (Scottsdale, Ariz./Saguaro) led the way, placing second with a time of 10:51.22.
Halle Barker (Superior, Wis./Superior Senior), who claimed the conference championship in the 5,000 meters Friday, placed third with a time of 11:13.61. She was neck-and-neck with
Tea Boerner (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna Senior), who came across a fraction of a second later, placing fourth after coming across in 11:13.91.
Cora Hudella (North Branch, Minn./North Branch Area) wasn't far off the pace, finishing in 11:16.88, narrowly missing out on a top five finish.
In the field events, a pair of Yellowjackets placed in the top five in the pole vault.
McKenna Nash (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) finished in a tie for second place, clearing the bar at a height of 2.45 meters. Meanwhile,
Kenzy Kreuzer (Stoddard, Wis./De Soto) finished in a tie for fifth place with a mark of 2.30 meters.
Emma Johnson (Centuria, Wis./Unity), who placed second in the weight throw Friday, picked up her second runner-up finish of the weekend Saturday. Johnson placed second in the shot put with a heave of 11.36 meters.
In the triple jump,
Myla Volk (Wabeno, Wis./Wabeno) and
Catie McPherson (Ashland, Wis./Ashland) earned key points in the triple jump. Volk placed third with a season-best leap of 9.48 meters. McPherson, meanwhile, was right behind her with a jump of 9.38 meters, which was good for fourth place.
Meet Notes
- Summer Hesseldahl (International Falls, Minn./Falls) placed fifth in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 10.06 seconds.
- In the 200-meter dash Allison Alessi (Shakopee, Minn./Prior Lake) posted a personal record with a time of 28.10 seconds, placing her fifth.
- Taylor DeCook (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) finished fifth in the 800 meters, finishing with a personal record time of 2:33.14.
- The 4-x-400-meter relay team placed fourth with a time of 4:32.48. The season best time came courtesy of the team consisting of DeCook, Stephens, Cora Schmitz (Luck, Wis./Unity) and Hesseldahl.
- For the day, the Yellowjackets set seven personal records and posted three season bests.
Next up for the Yellowjackets is a trip to Ripon for the Ripon Final Qualifier. The multi events will begin Friday, followed by the full meet Saturday. Start times are 2 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.
