Track and Field

Category: Track and Field

Inside LU Athletics: Track team looks to move up at MWC Championships

Thunderstorms and showers are the forecast for this weekend’s Midwest Conference Championships at Monmouth College, and that’s just another typical day for Lawrence University track and field coach Jason Fast and his Vikings.

In fact, it’s better than most days for the Vikings this spring.

“I’ve been telling our team the whole week that there shouldn’t be a set of weather conditions that will surprise us. We’ve seen it all,” Fast said with a laugh. “The only thing that would be surprising is if it’s a nice day.”

The Vikings head into this weekend’s championships looking to improve on last year’s ninth-place finishes.

“Going into it, everyone is really excited,” Fast said. “Last year at this time, there wasn’t a whole lot we could do. We’re looking at the men and women finishing higher up in the conference.”

The men are paced by a local athlete, sophomore Sam Stevens, who hails from nearby Suamico. Stevens ranks second in the conference in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, third in the 1,500 and eighth in the 800. Stevens also will run a leg on the 1,600 relay team.

“I expect him to score in all of those events,” Fast said of Stevens. “A large portion of our success will be determined on how well he can do because he could be scoring half to three-quarters of our team points. We need him to do well.”

Fast said he didn’t put that type of pressure on Stevens in 2010 because he was worn down after a year of competition. Fast didn’t hesitate in relying on Stevens this spring.

“Last year I didn’t wanted to put that on him because he was beaten down,” Fast said.

“This year it wasn’t even a question. He wanted to do all these events.

I was thinking the exact same thing, and it’s always nice when the coach and athlete are on the same page.”

Stevens’ running mate in the steeplechase will be senior David Zane. He ranks in the top eight in both the steeplechase and the 10,000. The Vikings also are looking for a strong performance in the 800 from freshman Dan Thoresen, who has been nipping at Stevens’ heels in that event.

“I’m hoping David ends his senior year on a positive note,” Fast said.

The 400 relay team got a recent boost with the additions of Tyler Mazur and Dyllan Eichhorst. They join Jon Bruehl and Sam Wagner to take a run at placing in some fast company.

“We’re looking for them to sneak in there and get us a couple of points,” Fast said.

Rose Tepper leads the women’s contingent and is looking to keep her season going beyond the conference championships. The sophomore from Mount Vernon, Iowa, is the defending champion in the high jump and led a 1-2 Lawrence sweep in that event in 2010.

Tepper missed the indoor championships because of a knee injury.

“It will help the team a lot to have Rose in there. She’s our leader and our leading point scorer,” Fast said. “The women’s high jump is the first event the first day. I expect her to start us off strong.”

Despite the knee injury during the indoor season, Tepper qualified for the NCAA Championships. She missed the meet after coming down with a case of food poisoning the day before she was scheduled to compete. Needless to say, Tepper would like to get back to nationals.

“With the rehab Rose had to do for her knee, it’s caused her to pick up some bad habits in her jumping technique. She has been working to iron those things out,” Fast said. “It seems like she has a lot of that taken care of.

Tepper’s best jump this spring is 5 feet, 4.25 inches, and Monmouth’s Emily Tysma is tops in the league at 5-5, which has her provisionally qualified for the NCAA meet.

“Rose’s first goal is to win,” Fast said. “There’s also another good jumper in our conference so she may have to qualify for nationals to win.”

The Vikings also have a pair of distance runners, Anne Sullivan and Anna Ratliff, who are looking to place in the 10,000. Freshman Erica Schmidt also has a shot to place in the discus.

Perish earns academic honor

Softball star Emily Perish has been chosen for the Capital One Academic All-District 5 team. Perish, a junior, was a third-team selection.

A pitcher/infielder, Perish has a 3.79 grade point average and is majoring in religious studies and government. Also an Academic All-Midwest Conference selection, Perish hit .354 on the season and posted a 6-6 record on the mound with a 4.17 earned run average.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a weekly notes package written by Lawrence University Sports Information Director Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.

Relay team takes title at UW-Whitewater Invitational

WHITEWATER, Wis. — The Lawrence University men’s 400-meter relay team took the title at the UW-Whitewater Invitational on Saturday.

The team of Jon Bruehl, Sam Wagner, Jesse Peterson and Cam Blegen grabbed first place in 46.84 seconds.

Lawrence also had a host of other top finishes.

Tom Coben grabbed third in the 10,000 meters in 36:33.30. David Zane and Sam Stevens finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Zane was fifth in 10:17.54 and Stevens was sixth in 10:18.58.

On the women’s side, Rose Tepper was the top finisher for the Vikings with a third place in the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 1.75 inches.

Men’s results

Women’s results

Zane, Brisbois run to victories at UW-Oshkosh Invitational

OSHKOSH, Wis. — David Zane and Jamie Brisbois both ran to victories Friday at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational at Titan Stadium.

Zane raced to first in the 10,000 meters in 33:24.45 and teammate Dan Moeller finished fourth. Brisbois was tops in the 3,000 steeplechase in 11:28.72.

The Lawrence men finished fifth in the team standings. The Lawrence women took seventh place.

Leading the way for the women was high jumper Rose Tepper, who grabbed third place with a jump of 5 feet, 0.25 inches. Also posting a top finish for the women was Sam Luebke, who took fourth in the 200 meters.

Results

Tepper, Stevens take individual titles at Wisconsin Lutheran Relays

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Rose Tepper and Sam Stevens both won events for the Lawrence University track and field team on Sunday at the Wisconsin Lutheran College Relays.

Tepper, a national qualifier indoors in 2011, won the high jump with a leap of 5 feet, 4.25 inches. She also placed 11th in the javelin. The Lawrence women finished seventh in the team standings with 31 points.

Stevens grabbed first in the 800 meters with a time of 1:58.78. The Lawrence men also got top-five finishes from Dan Thoresen, who grabbed third in the 1,500, and M. Jay Bouska, who was fourth in the high jump.

The Lawrence men finished fourth in the team standings with 47 points. 

Results

Stevens, Sullivan pace Vikings at Carroll Invitational

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Sam Stevens and Anne Sullivan both took home second-place finishes on Saturday to pace the Lawrence University track team at the Carroll University Invitational.

Stevens grabbed second place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 9:41.31. Teammate David Zane ran to fourth place in 10:12.89.

Anne Sullivan raced to second in the 5,000 in 19:54.74 to lead the Lawrence women. Rose Tepper leaped to third place in the high jump with a height of 5 feet, 3 inches. Erica Schmidt also grabbed a third place in the discus with a toss of 117-04.

Results

Stevens paces Vikings at Carroll Invitational

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Sam Stevens ran to a third-place finish in the 1,500 meters on Saturday to pace the Lawrence University track and field team.

Stevens was a little more than two seconds off the winning time of 4:06.14 of UW-Oshkosh’s Brett DeNure. Stevens finished in 4:08.53.

M. Jay Bouska, competing in his first collegiate meet, took sixth place in the triple jump with a leap of 38 feet, 3.5 inches.

The women were paced by Rose Tepper, who placed eighth in the high jump with a leap of 4-11.

Results

Winter season athletes honored for academic achievement

Thirty-four Lawrence University winter season student-athletes have been named to the Academic All-Midwest Conference team.

To be eligible for the team, a student must be at least a sophomore and have a minimum 3.2 grade point average.

The women’s swimming team led the way among Lawrence student-athletes with 12 selections.

Men’s basketball

Scott Beauchamp, sophomore, St. Paul, Minn., undecided

Erik Borresen, senior, West Bend, Wis., government

Conor Klusendorf, sophomore, Chicago, Ill., psychology

Men’s swimming

Peter Brengel, junior, Milwaukee, Wis., government

David Dulak, junior, Red Wing, Minn., biochemistry/Spanish

Cory Greguske, senior, Germantown, Wis., biology

Nick Johnson, senior, Rockford, Ill., biology/Spanish

Marc Pawlus, junior, Bartlett, Ill., government/economics

Caleb Stellmach, sophomore, St. Cloud, Minn., philosophy

Women’s swimming

Sarah Bostrom, senior, Bloomington, Minn., biochemistry/psychology

Jenna Budde, junior, Roscoe, Ill., psychology

Aisha Eiger, junior, Montclair, N.J., anthropology

Yagmur Esemen, sophomore, Taskinkoy, Nicosia, Cyprus, biology

Kelsey Gray, senior, West Lafayette, Ind., physics

Julia Heller, sophomore, Daly City, Calif., English/studio art

Molly Ingram, junior, Topeka, Kan., economics/anthropology

Skylar Kogelschatz, senior, Mount Pleasant, S.C., government

Katie Nelson, junior, Vienna, Va., art

Sarah Robinson, senior, Luxemburg, Wis., music

Sam Schilsky, sophomore, Pleasantville, N.Y., biology

Alicia Tape, sophomore, St. Louis, Mo., music performance

Men’s indoor track

Cam Blegen, junior, Whitefish Bay, Wis., biology

Tom Coben, junior, St. Paul, Minn., environmental science

Stan Jablonski, junior, River Hills, Wis., biology

Dan Moeller, senior, Decorah, Iowa, government

Jesse Peterson, senior, Monroe, Wis., psychology

Sam Stevens, sophomore, Suamico, Wis., biology

David Zane, senior, San Rafael, Calif., anthropology

Women’s indoor track

Amanda Dwyer, sophomore, Ralston, Neb., environmental science/biology

Kristina Reimer, junior, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, biology

Anne Sullivan, senior, Whitefish Bay, Wis., psychology

Rose Tepper, sophomore, Mount Vernon, Iowa, psychology

Rachel Young, junior, Minneapolis, Minn., Spanish/Chinese

Lin Zhao, junior, Tianjin, China, biology

Inside LU Athletics: Winter weather playing havoc with spring sports

It was like taking away the toys from the kids on Christmas morning.

Lawrence University track and field coach Jason Fast was all set to have his team do its first workout on newly renovated Whiting Field last week when the sleet and snow buried the blue track with a blanket of white.

“It was a pretty rough blow, not just to myself but to the whole team,” Fast said. “Everyone was pining to get out on the brand new track and run on it.”

The snowstorm that hit the Fox Valley last week has made the past few days difficult for the Lawrence track, baseball and softball teams. The Vikings have been forced to go back indoors to work out and schedules have been shuffled in an effort to get some games completed.

“It’s not the first time in my career that we’ve come back up north and haven’t been able to play,” said Lawrence baseball coach Jason Anderson, whose Vikings played eight games in Florida during spring break.

“Baseball is a game designed to play every day so you have to get playing. With Midwest Conference play coming up, we needed to get some games in.”

The Lawrence baseball team had been scheduled to play North Central (Minn.) University at Whiting Field on March 26 but those games were pushed back to Friday and Saturday. With the field still covered with snow, Anderson is taking his Vikings on the road to play some “home” games.

The Vikings are headed to Anderson’s hometown of Grinnell, Iowa, to play three games with North Central this weekend before heading to the University of Chicago for a doubleheader on Sunday.

Fast and softball coach Kim Tatro will not have to go quite that far to get some game competition.

The track team was scheduled to compete at the UW-Oshkosh Invitational on Saturday, but snow at Titan Stadium has moved that meet to Carroll University.

To prepare for that first outdoor competition, the Vikings got to work on Whiting Field. Track team members shoveled off 200 meters worth of three lanes and the high jump area on Monday and planned to clear the other 200 meters on Wednesday.

“The biggest thing was preparing for the outdoor season and keeping everyone on task. Whether we have a bunch of snow or not, the outdoor season is going to happen so we need to be ready,” Fast said.

“Seeing that devotion (shoveling the track) from the team shows we are ready to go outdoors and excited to get competing.”

The softball team has seen one doubleheader pushed back and will attempt to play at Marian University on Thursday. Lawrence is headed south to Beloit College, where there is virtually no snow, to play on Saturday. The Vikings are scheduled to play their home opener on April 6 against St. Norbert College.

The baseball team also used shovels to clear off as much of the Whiting Field infield as possible.

“The biggest issue we have on our field is the wind is crazy so we have a lot of drifting,” said Anderson, noting that there are drifts several feet high near the backstop. “That’s too much for us to move and it takes a lot longer to melt.”

Anderson’s goal is to play his first home game on April 10 when the Vikings open conference play with Beloit.

“The goal is to be able to play our conference home opener next weekend,” Anderson said. “If we get in four games this weekend of the five we have scheduled, I’ll be happy.”

Perfect start

Senior center fielder Robert Rashid picked up right where he left off last season. Rashid, one of the nation’s leaders in stolen bases in 2010, was 7-for-7 on steals in Lawrence’s first eight games. Rashid, who led the team with a .393 batting average during the spring break trip, stole a school season record 32 bases last season.

Editor’s Note: Inside LU Athletics is a weekly notes package written by Lawrence University Sports Information Director Joe Vanden Acker. It will feature teams and individual players, recap weekly awards or highlights and take a look at what’s ahead for the Vikings.

Food poisoning knocks Tepper out of NCAA Championships

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A case of food poisoning kept Lawrence University track and field standout Rose Tepper from competing at the NCAA Division III Championships on Saturday.

Tepper (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) and Lawrence head coach Jason Fast both became ill on Friday. Tepper was scheduled to compete in the high jump on Saturday morning at Capital University but was still far too ill to take part in the meet.

This was the first trip to the NCAA Championships for Tepper, who earned a qualifying spot when she jumped 5 feet, 5.75 inches, on Feb. 5. That jump broke Madeline Steininger’s school record.

This caps what has been a rough month for Tepper. She injured her knee several weeks ago while stretching before practice. That injury forced her to miss the Midwest Conference Championships. Tepper had returned to practice this past Monday and left for the NCAA Championships on Wednesday.

Tepper to jump at NCAA Championships

Lawrence University track and field standout Rose Tepper will take part in the NCAA Division III Championships this weekend.

Tepper (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) competes Friday at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.

Tepper became a provisional qualifier when she jumped 5 feet, 5.75 inches, on Feb. 5 and broke the school record in the process. She didn’t have much of a chance to improve on that jump when she injured her knee and was forced to miss the Midwest Conference Championships.

It appeared as though Tepper was going to be on the outside looking in at the NCAA Championships after the last-chance meets on March 5. Two jumpers went higher than 5-5.75 on March 5, but Tepper got her ticket punched to the national championships when the NCAA took 20 jumpers instead of the anticipated 11.

This is the first trip to the NCAA meet for Tepper, a sophomore and the 2010 MWC outdoor champ in the high jump.

Tepper is the first Lawrence track athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championships since Madeline Steininger went to the outdoor championships in the high jump in 2009. Steininger also qualified for the indoor championships in 2008 and placed fifth in the high jump to earn All-America honors.