The Lawrence University Track and Field teams competed in the UW-Oshkosh Open Jan. 25. In their second meet of the season, the Vikings were able to show some major improvements in the distance and hurdling events.
That being said, Head Coach Jason Fast noted, “We need to work on being more consistent in racing. We need to be able to count on each other once we are on a bigger stage at the conference meet.”
The men’s team took fourth overall, beating conference-rival Ripon for the first time in Coach Fast’s tenure. Freshman Jonah Laursen captured the only Viking victory for the day, crossing the finish line of the 5000-meter run in 16:13—his first ever collegiate victory.
“I was pleased with my performance,” said Laursen. “I know I’ll be able to improve through the season.”
Right behind Laursen was teammate Curran Carlile, a junior who snatched second with his time of 16:30. In the 800-meter run, Lawrentians were able to snag second and third overall.
Juniors Dan Thoresen and Mike Mangian continued their in-team rivalry with Thoresen finishing in 2:00.71 to Mangian’s 2:00.80.
“Hopefully we can continue to keep pushing each other,” stated Thoresen. “Mangian has been keeping me honest with my pace for two years now. I owe him a lot.”
Elsewhere on the track, two Viking hurdlers scored points for Lawrence in the 60-meter high hurdles. Freshmen JP Ranumas and Jonah Sorell qualified for the finals and were able to finish third and seventh, respectively, with Ranumas crossing the line in 8.84 and Sorell in 10.73.
Senior Sam Stevens was able to grab third place overall in the 3000-meter run against some stiff competition. His time was 8:58.10.
The women’s team was led by freshman Liz Landes, who finished third in the 5000-meter run in 21:01. Competing in her second-ever indoor meet, she was very excited about her performance.
“What determines a good runner is not the absence of nerves but the management of them, and a track meet is the expression of this quality,” Landes noted. “I didn’t know that I was capable of feeling so good during and after such a long race on such a small loop.”
Other notable finishers were junior Sam Luebke who jumped to fourth in the long jump with her distance of 4.75 meters. Senior Rose Tepper nabbed fifth in the high jump with a jump of 1.57 meters.
Overall, the teams were happy with their improvements: “Our second meet was definitely an improvement on our first one,” said Laursen. “I think that everyone will continue to improve in the upcoming meets.”