Track posts five individual champions

Matt Hoh

The men and women’s track teams posted five first place finishes along with two second place finishes on Saturday at the Ripon Invitational held at Ingalls Field in Ripon. There were four teams in action: Lawrence, Carroll, St. Norbert and Ripon. Sophomore Nick Maxam, senior captain Russell Geisthardt, junior Tatiana Bulant, sophomore Tess Jaeger and senior captain Mike Pierquet all placed first in their events.
Maxam placed first in the javelin in which he threw a distance of 139 feet, four inches. “My win meant a lot to me mostly because this is my first year and only my third meet and it feels really good to know that I can be competitive in our conference. It gets me excited for next year.” Overall five of his six throws were farther than any other throws he has had in a meet thus far.
Geisthardt also had a first place finish in the 400 meter dash in which he ran an impressive time of 52.08 seconds, beating his closest competitor by .49 seconds. Pierquet won the hammer throw with a distance of 137 feet 4.75 inches, nearly two feet longer than his closest competitor. Bulat finished first in the triple jump with a distance of 39 feet 11.5 inches with the closet competitor at 32 feet 10 1/4 inches.
Jaeger had the final first place finish in the high jump, where she jumped four feet, five inches, beating the next competitor who jumped a four feet, 3.5 inches. “It is always fun winning an event, especially the weekend before the conference meet. It is nice to know what you can do before getting to conference and putting it all on the line!” Jaeger commented. “My performance was good, but I think I will jump higher at conference. With a little concentrated practice this week, I should be ready to go.”
To go along with the five first place finishes were also two second place finishes recorded by the Vikings at the Ripon Invitational. Sophomore Mark Sprtel earned a second place finish in the 800m run with a time of 2:03.56. Freshman Kevin Gabrielson also placed second in the long jump, with a jump of 19 feet, 3.25 inches.
“It’s great to see the team putting together wins in various events this late in the season as we approach the conference championships,” commented Maxam. Overall, a great performance by the Vikings who are back in action at the MWC championships held at Knox College May 9 and 10. Jaeger is especially excited for the weekend. “The team this year has definitely worked hard to be prepared for it, and the best performances are yet to come!