Track & Field Kicks Off Outdoor Season

Saturday was a day of records and "oh-so close" moments, as three new program records were set and 5 athletes came close to the program bests. As one of just nine teams at the meet, the Eagles sent 16 athletes, setting benchmarks and posting high results to start the season.

Carlie Blevins kicked off the excitement in the 1500m run, posting a time of 5:13.22 and breaking the previous record of 5:23 set by Wendy Busenitz in 2016. With her time, Carlie also qualified for NCCAA Nationals in the 1500m run. Hannah Wernli set a record of her own in the long jump, posting a mark of 4.66m and beating the previous record of 4.37m that she set last season.

Katie Costello (100m dash) and Wernli (100m hurdles) both came within 0.5 seconds of both the program record and qualifying for nationals in their respective events. Eli Boatman (Discus) and Sadie Long (High Jump) started their seasons well as they came close to the nationals qualifying marks, and throughout the day several athletes competed in their events for the first time, giving themselves benchmarks for the rest of the season.

Codie Wirges ended the day on a tear, as she helped the women's 4x100 team (Sierra Pearson, Codie Wirges, Hannah Wernli, Katie Costello) set a new record time of 53.71, beating last years time of 54.78. Wirges finished the day as she leaped her way into the National championship meet, posting a mark of 9.88m in the triple jump.

Full team results can be found here.

Up Next: The Eagles will compete at the Central Invitational in Pella, IA on Saturday, March 29th with field events beginning at 10:00am, and track events beginning at 1:00pm.