COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The University of Minnesota Morris track & field team was back at Saint John's University for the third time during the outdoor season on Saturday. In this iteration, the Cougar women placed fourth out of eight teams and the men were fifth out of six teams.
The biggest news of the day came from throwers Jessica Bliese and
Justin Robinson. Each set a school record, with Bliese very nearly coming away with two. Bliese's record came in the shot put where she had a throw of 42-9.75 (13.05 meters) to take down a nearly seven-year-old record. She also was just one inch short of matching a school record in the hammer throw as she went 162-11 (49.66 meters). Both of those throws were good for second place at the meet. Robinson went more than five feet better than the previous school record in the hammer throw as he unleashed a throw of 162-4 (49.48 meters).
Back on the women's side, the trio of Alexa Yeager, Kaitlyn Ladwig, and Chloe Haven went 1-2-3 in the 5,000 Meter Run. Yeager won the event with a time of 19:46.79, the eighth-best in school history. Lawig clocked in at 20:04.88 and Haven crossed the line in 21:23.26. Jenica Moes also had a runner-up finish on Saturday for the Cougars with a throw of 123-6 (37.65 meters) in the discus.
Two other noteworthy finishes on the track for the Cougar women were McKenna Langerud notching the 10th-best time ever in the 1,500 Meters (5:09.44) and Maddie Fenske placing fifth in the 800 Meters (2:34.05).
For the men,
Luke Petersen also had an impressive performance in the hammer as his distance of 147-8 (45.00 meters) was the seventh-best throw in program history. He also had a fifth-place finish in the discus at 126-11 (38.69 meters). In the shot put, the Cougars had a 3-4-5 finish with
Cody Nye setting a PR of 47-7.25 (14.51 meters) to take the bronze. Robinson was fourth (45-0.25, 13.72 meters) and
Alex Boyd fifth (44-10.75, 13.68 meters). One other top finish from a UMN Morris thrower came from Winston Cartwright as he ended in sixth place in the javelin at 123-9 (37.72 meters).
Outside of throws, the Cougar men received a fourth-place finish from
Camden Talley in the high jump, clearing 5-7 (1.70 meters). On the track,
Edmund Cease had the 10th-best finish all-time for Minnesota Morris in the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase, running an 11:16.80.
Grady Larsen came in seventh in the 1,500 Meters, closing out his race in 4:26.57.
The Cougars head to Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D. on April 24 for the NSU Open. Throwing events get started at 12 p.m. that day, with proceedings on the track to follow at 2 p.m.
