SUPERIOR, Wis. – The 2022-23 indoor track and field season saw the Yellowjacket women make history, claiming the program's first Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Championship. The title defense in 2023-24 was strong, as they repeated as back-to-back champions in the indoor season.
 
Friday the title defense in 2024-25 begun for the Yellowjackets, taking place inside the friendly confines of the Dr. Lydia C. Thering Fieldhouse.
 
At the end of day one, the 'Jackets saw themselves in third place, just six points away from Northwestern (66) in first place and Crown (63) following.
 
Meet Notes

• Beginning with the track events, the preliminary 60-meter dash saw a personal-best from Summer Hesseldahl (International Falls, Minn./Falls), logging an 8.30 second finish in third place. In fifth place, Cora Schmitz (Luck, Wis./Unity) logged a season-best 8.51 second race time.
• Later, Hesselahl took second place in the 60-meter hurdles, setting another PR on the afternoon.
• Seventh place saw Keira Hesseldahl (International Falls, Minn./Falls) log a new high-water mark of 10.42 seconds to qualify for championship day.
• Both Melissa Hoff (Holmen, Wis./Holmen) and Lillianna Jones (Portage, Wis./Portage) established new personal records in the 400-meter race, finishing with times of 1:07.27 and 1:09.07, respectively.
• The mile featured three Yellowjackets in the top ten, beginning with Halle Barker's (Superior, Wis./Superior) season-best 5:39.94 finish for sixth place. Taylor DeCook (Arlington Heights, Ill./Prospect) finished the race in 5:51.47 for eighth place before Kayela Putnam (Stephenson, Mich./Stephenson) garnered a PR of 5:52.50 while taking ninth overall.
• Isabel Molina (Solon Springs, Wis./Solon Springs) also raced in the mile, grabbing a new personal-best at 6:22.64.
• UW-Superior's best finish in the 5,000-meter was third place, coming from Tea Boerner's (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) 19:24.04 race time. She was followed by Cora Hudella (North Branch, Minn./North Branch) and Lilley Smith (Ironwood, Mich./Ironwood), respectively. Hudella's time of 19:55.31 was good for fifth place, while Smith's new high-water mark of 20:47.29 stood for sixth place.
• Aubrey Peterson (Kasson, Minn./Kasson-Mantorville) also created a new personal record in the 5k, finishing in 22:18.59.
• UWS finished fifth in the 4x200-meter race, as the team of Summer Hesseldahl (International Falls, Minn./Falls), Grace Nonnemacher (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld), Lillianna Jones (Portage, Wis./Portage) and Cora Schmitz (Luck, Wis./Unity) set a time of 1:57.99.
• Barker, Putnam, Boerner and Scarlett Vanderscheuren (Saginaw, Minn./South Ridge) combined in the distance medley, taking second place with a race time of 13:55.66.
• The highlight of the day came from the high jumps, as Bel Dimaze (Monticello, Minn./Spectrum) set a new PR while finishing in first place, clearing the bar at 1.52 meters. Riley Toivonen (Grand Rapids, Minn./Grand Rapids) would also log a new best jump of 1.27 meters in the event.
• Shifting to the long jump, Summer Hesseldahl (International Falls, Minn./Falls) took second with a leap of 4.99 meters. A trio of Yellowjackets made up sixth, seventh and eighth place coming in Nonnemacher (4.60 meters), Dimaze (4.40 meters) and Catie McPherson (Ashland, Wis./Ashland) (4.39 meters). McPherson's mark went down as a season best.
• Both Kory Windish (White Bear Lake, Minn./White Bear Lake) and Sydney Cox (Two Harbors, Minn./Two Harbors) PR'd in the weight throw. Windish logged a 11.71 meter heave, while Cox established a 10.66 meter chuck.
• In total, the Yellowjackets set 13 PR's, three season bests and a first place finish.

 
UWS looks to repeat as conference champions Saturday, as action resumes inside the Lydia C. Thering Fieldhouse. Events will begin at 11 a.m.