Spartan Women Place 6th at IIAC Indoor Track Championships
Feb 24, 2013 | J.Crane
DUBUQUE, IOWA – The University of Dubuque Track & Field program spent the weekend of February 23rd and 24th hosting the 2013 Iowa Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on A.Y. McDonald Track inside the Chlapaty Recreation and Wellness Center. The Dubuque women’s team scored 38.5 points and finished in sixth place, the best finish in school history. The men’s team finished with an all-time UD best 107 points in route to a third place finish. The Wartburg College women and Central College men took home the team titles. The IIAC Indoor Championships began in 2003.
Four school records were broken by the UD women’s team with three of them coming in relays. The Spartans only All-Iowa Conference honoree on the women’s side was Nikki McKenzie (Hoffman Estates, Ill./William Fremd) with a third place finish in the Triple Jump at 10.78m (35' 4"). Katelyn Herbig (Aurora, Ill./Aurora Central) broke her own school record in the Weight Throw with a toss of 14.45m (47' 5") on her way to a fourth place finish. Freshman Alexis Higgins (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) just missed earning All-IIAC recognition in the High jump with a fourth place finish that came down to tie breakers at 1.59m (5' 5.25") cleared.
The first relay record to fall came on Friday night in the Distance Medley as the team of Brenda Nava (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech), Kelsey McCreight (Blue Grass, Iowa/Davenport West), Kelley Hauber (Ridgeway, Iowa/South Winn.), and Megan Bloedow (Gays Mills, Wis./Boscobel) finished at 13:27.52. Nava, McCreight, Hauber, and Veronica Wellman (West Point, Iowa/Fort Madison) teamed up to break the school record in the 4x800m Relay on Saturday afternoon with a time of 10:43.85. In the final women’s event of the championships, the UD 4x400m Relay team of McKenzie, Jamyia Catchings (Pavle Forest, Ill./Bloom Trail), Leigha Hodge (Madison, Wis./Lafollette), and Kim Trinco (Schaumburg, Ill./JB Conant) finished on a high note at 4:08.53 to set a third relay record for the Spartans.
Individually, the Spartans top finisher on the track was Bloedow with a sixth place finish in the 3,000m Run. Freshman Randi Bodish(Guttenberg, Iowa/Clayton Ridge) finished eighth (of 23 sprinters) in the 55m Dash.
The Spartan men had five individuals earn All-Iowa Conference honors including two individual event champions, and set two school records. Senior Phillip Jones (South Holland, Ill./Thornwood) won the 55m Dash in 6.46 seconds with teammate Corey Broussard (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha South) finishing right behind him at 6.49 seconds. Tyrone Galvin (Madison, Wis./Madison East) finished fourth in the 55m Dash as well to earn the Spartans a total of 23 points in the event. UD has won 8 of 11 55/60m Dashes at the Indoor Championships including the last four. Jones also finished sixth in the 200m Dash. In the 400m Dash, Ryan Mattingly (Janesville, Iowa/Janesville) missed All-Conference honors by .07 seconds with his fourth place finish at 50.93 seconds. Andy Sierra (Fruitland, Iowa/Louisa-Muscatine) took sixth in the 400m Dash as well.
The UD men also had success in the Triple Jump with Kevin Jamison (Hillside, Ill./Proviso West) winning the title with a jump of 14.0m (45' 11"). Antwone Lindsey (Gulfport, Miss./Gulfport) finished fourth, Kebba Bojang (Madison, Wis./Madison East) took fifth, and Renanzo Williams (Clarksville, Tenn./Clarksville) placed eighth to give the Spartans 20 points in the Triple Jump. Spartan Pole Vaulters also had a successful championship weekend finishing 3-4-5 with Joe Spencer (Kansas City, Mo./Parkhill South), Temwa Phiri (Lansing, Mich./East Lansing), and Kashden Nelson (Rio, Wis./Stoughton) all finishing with a final height of 4.20m (13' 9.5"). In the Long Jump, Galvin finished third to earn All-IIAC with a leap of 6.76m (22' 2"). Christopher Watson (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) placed fourth in the High Jump.
In the Men’s Heptathlon, sophomore Tyler Dobratz (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) earned All-Iowa Conference with a school record 4,443 points. Dobratz won the Shot Put and finished second in the 55m Dash during the Heptathlon. Everett Schwer (Fennimore, Wis./Fennimore) took sixth place overall with a second place performance in the Shot Put and third place finishes in the Pole Vault and Long Jump.
The 4x800m Relay team of Austin George (Clinton, Iowa/Clinton), Payton Nevills (Savanna, Ill./West Carroll), Jordan Murray (DeWitt, Iowa/Central DeWitt), and Devante Miller (Markham, Ill./Bremen) set a school record with a time of 8:26.31. Sprinters Galvin, Jones, Sierra, and Broussard finished fourth in the 4x200m Relay at 1:30.83.
UP NEXT: The Spartans will travel to UW-Stevens Point for a Last Chance Meet on Saturday, March 2nd.
