The Lawrence track team was in action May 9 and 10 at the MWC championships, which were held at Knox College. The women’s team finished in eighth place and the men’s finished ninth.
Sophomore stand-out Madeline Steininger led the way for the Vikings, placing in three events. Steininger commented on her performance, “It is great being successful as an individual, but for me the ultimate achievement is knowing that my hard work contributes to the team as a whole!” Steininger placed third in the high jump with a jump of five feet 3.25 inches, sixth in the long jump with a distance of 16-8.75 and seventh in the 100m hurdles with a time of 17.13 seconds.
Overall, Steininger was not completely satisfied with her performance and looks forward to improving for next year. “I thought that I would be able to come back and do as well as I did in the indoor season, but after missing most of the outdoor season [Steininger was on Marine Term], finishing how I did helped me realize that it takes a lot of hard work and practice to be successful.”
The Vikings also got a solid performance from junior Tatiana Bulat, as she finished fourth in the triple jump with a jump of 34-6.75. Bulat also placed eighth along with the other 4x400m relay team. “I was very satisfied with my performance and especially with my 4-by-4 teammates. I can’t wait to run with them all again next year!” Bulat commented.
Senior Joy Manweiler rounded out the top five place finishers with her fifth place finish in the 10,000m run in a time of 42:42:53. “It was a great culminating meet of my college running career and I’m proud to say I was the athlete there who raced the most in the weekend, at 18,100 meters. I ran three great distance races that anyone would be proud to say they ran, and the 4×100 was a blast,” commented Manweiler on her performance.
Manweiler’s distance was made up of the 4x100m relay, 5,000m run, and 3,000m steeplechase in addition to the 10,000m run. When asked about the steeplechase she said, “I took a dive into the steeple pit…I caught my foot on the barrier, disappeared into the water, and surfaced, laughing. It’s not the most efficient way to tackle the race, but it definitely was fun! I could’ve been seriously injured though, so I’m lucky to have escaped with just a couple bruises.”
Seniors Chelsea Fickbohm and Laurel Benson also scored points for the women. Fickbohm placed sixth in the javelin with a distance of 103 feet, 10 inches. She also placed eighth in the 400m hurdles. Benson placed seventh in the pole vault with a height of eight feet, 1.25 inches.
The men’s relay teams scored the most points for the team with sixth place finishes for both the 400m relay with a time of 45.38 seconds and the 1,600m relay with a time of 3:32.1. Individually, senior Mike Pierquet placed eighth in the hammer throw with a distance of 128 feet four inches for the Vikings.
Another eighth place finish came in the discus with a throw of 134 feet two inches thrown by junior Rob Lawson. Lawson was not completely satisfied with his performance as the finals were all so close to each other. However, he looked on the bright side: “On the plus side, I still scored one point but I am not really satisfied with that and hope to do much better next year.”
Lawson threw in a little bit of humor; when his coach asked how he did, he responded, “You know I didn’t throw as well as I could but I am a really nice guy!”
Overall, congratulations to all the Lawrence Track and Field members on a good year. Bulat and all of the other underclassmen want to send a message to the seniors: “We will miss all the seniors who will be graduating very soon but we are very excited and cannot wait until the indoor and, of course, outdoor seasons begin again and we can represent Lawrence Track and Field!
MWC results for Track
