May 6, 2008

Track Teams Finish 3rd at RMAC's

7 Winners Total

Final Results

     Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney track and field teams each finished in third place at the 2008 RMAC Outdoor Championships in Gunnison, Colo.

      The three-day meet ended Tuesday with UNK scoring 131.50 (men) and 111.50 (women) points. Adams State easily walked away with two more team titles, scoring 246 points on the women's side and 255 on the men's.

      Western State (176 women; 158 men) was a distant second on both sides.

      Individually, junior Kelli Dring (Kearney H.S.) led the Lopers cause by being named the Women's Field Athlete of the Year and the Women's Athlete of the Meet. At the RMAC Indoor Championships in March, she also picked up these awards.

      After being second (long jump) and fifth (high jump) Monday, Dring won the triple jump (39-1.75) Tuesday and also placed third in the 100 hurdles (14.57) and ran the anchor leg for the 4 x 100 relay team that finished third (48.29).

      Overall, she scored 28.5 points, the second highest total among all athletes (male or female). The meet leader was Adams State's Amanda Gylling (31.0).

      Dring wasn't the only Loper to take home the gold Tuesday as Bartlett senior Andrew Smith won the javelin (176-6), Fairbury junior Dakota Cochrane won his second RMAC pole vault title (15-3.50) and Gothenburg sophomore Kiley Peterson placed first in the shot put (44-7). Overall, UNK won seven events at this meet.

      The UNK men would score a total of 23 points in the javelin as Kansas sophomore Brandon Karlin, who won the hammer Monday, was runner up to Smith with a toss of 173-2 while Will Jackson was fifth (156-7) and Rich Mourer eighth (149-4).

      The Lopers also netted a 6.5 more points in the pole vault as Alliance senior Andy Brown was fifth (14-3.50) and Smith eighth. Finally in field events, Fremont senior Seth Yount finished fourth in the triple jump (47-3).

      North Platte senior Josh Hofer and Doniphan freshman Cody Klein paced the UNK men on the track. The pair ran the final two legs for the 4 x 100 relay team that placed third (41.99) with Hofer also running anchor on the 4 x 400 relay team that took home the bronze (3:17.62) as well.

      Individually, Hofer was runner up at 400 meters (48.13) or the second straight year with Klein scoring nine team points by coming in fourth at 100 meters (10.87) and fifth at 200 (22.14).

      On the women's side, Imperial senior Michelle Dill was one of three Lopers to score in distance events Tuesday as she placed third at 800 meters (2:16.00). Also finishing in the top eight were York senior Jacquelyn Dibbern (7^th/1,500) and Dannebrog junior Kaci Lickteig (8^th/3,000).

      Sidney freshman Jessie Golden joined Dring in the 100 hurdles (4^th/14.84) and on the 4 x 100 relay team by running the second leg. Finally, Kansas junior Lacey Sechtem was one of two Lopers to score in the pole vault, coming in third place (10-4).

      Selected UNK athletes will compete again this weekend at the Condordia Twilight (Friday) and the NU Invite (Saturday). The list of NCAA qualifiers will come out early next week. Pictured below are Dring-Cochrane-Smith.