May 10, 2005

Track 1^st, 2^nd After Second Day

Lopers Have Three Champions, Three Runners Up

            Kearney, Neb. –   The Nebraska-Kearney track teams are in first (women) and second (men) after the first full day of competition at the 2005 RMAC Outdoor Championships in Alamosa, Colo.

            The event got underway Sunday with the first four events of the heptathlon and decathlon.

            On the women's side, UNK leads the field with 73 points with Adams (72) second and Chadron a distant third (45).  The Adams men lead with 71 points while UNK (57) is second and Fort Hays State and Western State are tied for third (52).

            The Lopers had three champions today, all seniors.  Amber Tiefenthaler (Butte) won the hammer for the third straight year while Lesley Crutcher (Elkhorn), in the high jump, and Derek Frese (Walthill), in the discus, won their first RMAC outdoor titles. 

            In the  hammer, Tiefenthaler threw a stadium record, and season high, 180-2 in her final throw.  The second place finisher was only at 163-5.

            UNK also placed fourth through sixth in this event with Central City junior Shauna Birchard (160-0) leading that trio.

            Crutcher went 5-5 to win the high jump with Bellwood senior Kate Semin (6^th/5-1) and Hooper junior Cali Cordes (7^th/5-1) also scoring here.

            By one inch, Frese had a season-high in the discus (176-0) to win that event.

            Back on the women's side, Cordes finished second in the heptathlon (4,680 points) and Culbertson sophomore Sara Wagner was runner up in the long jump (season-high 19-4).

            UNK showed off its depth by having three scorers in both the long jump and discus. After a fourth place effort in the hammer, Birchard was fourth in the discus (141-5).

            Also scoring points today were Lincoln senior Andrea Herndon (6^th/12:35.06) and Kearney junior Erin Reidel (8^th/12:40.19) in the 3,000 steeplechase and Sidney freshman BrenDee Brauer at 10,000 meters (8^th/46:25.33).

            In preliminaries, Semin had the meet's top time at 400 meters (57.73) while the Lopers qualified three individuals in the 100 and 200.

            However, ASC had the three top three times in each of those events.

            On the men's side, UNK had four scorers in the hammer, including a second through fourth effort. Kansas junior Kellen Jacobs was runner up (season-high 178-2) with Frese third (178-0).

            Kearney freshman Ross Fellows (4^th/23-1.25) was one of two Loper scorers in the long jump while Bartlett freshman Andrew Smith (3^rd/6,129 points) and Colorado freshman Brett Greene (5^th/5,6154) placed in the decathlon top five.

            Also, freshmen Michael Griess (Hartington) and Nick Bennett (Kearney) tied for sixth in the high jump (6-1.25).

            Finally in prelims, both York freshman Darrel Branz and Petersburg freshman Brent Knust qualified in the 110 and 400 hurdles.