Last weekend, Lawrence Indoor Track and Field traveled to University of Wisconsin-Platteville for its second meet of the season, the Pioneer Invitational. Serving as the half-way point of the season, the performance of the Vikings in the meet gives a reliable preview of the conference meet in three weeks.
In the meet, both the men’s and women’s teams showed exemplary performances. The women were led by senior Hannah Kinzer, who took second in the 3000 meter with a time of 11:26.28. Senior Erin Schrobilgen was close behind Kinzer, taking fourth. Representing the middle distance contingent, freshman Alex Chand raced to fourth place in the mile run. In the sprints, senior Fanita Robins and freshman Nora Robinson both qualified for finals and ultimately took sixth and seventh overall respectively in the 60 meter dash. In the field, Lawrence also had notable performances. Senior Janey Degnan took fifth in pole vault and freshman Emily Hoeft leapt to fifth in the long jump. To end out the meet, the Lawrence 4×400 meter relay took third place overall.
On the men’s side, sophomore Joe Kortenhof led the charge with a commanding victory in the 5000 meter run, winning by more than one minute. In the same race, juniors Ben Schaefer and Alec Timpe took second and fourth respectively. Junior Josh Janusiak, who generally races with Kortenhof, placed second overall in the 3000 meter run. In the mile, freshman Cullen Allard took sixth place. In the sprints, sophomore Mik Patel took seventh overall in the 400 meter dash. In the field, sophomore Will Nichols took seventh in the triple jump. Finally, the Vikings ended the meet with a win in the 4×400 meter relay.
Of the performances at the Pioneer Invitational, those by Janusiak and Kortenhof are worth a special note. Janusiak’s 3000 meter performance of 8:44.41 is the fastest time in Lawrence history. The previous record, 8:46.71, was set by Cam Davies in 2014. With this record, Janusiak etches his name into the Lawrence record-book for the third time. Last year, Janusiak also claimed the outdoor 5000 m record and the outdoor 10,000 m record. One of the few distance records not yet claimed by Janusiak was also challenged this weekend. Kortenhof’s 5000 meter performance came within 4 seconds of the indoor 5000 meter school record. Kortenhof’s run was also good for forty-second place nationally in NCAA Division III. For this, Kortenhof was awarded Midwest Conference Performer of the Week. With their performances, Kortenhof and Janusiak not have a commanding presence on the Midwest conference leaderboard. Janusiak holds the fastest time in the 3000 meter so far this season. Kortenhof holds the fastest time in the 5000 meter and the second fastest time in the 3,000 meter.
All in all, the race to the conference meet is progressing well. With two more meets before conference, watch out for more big performances in the coming weeks!
