WINONA, Minn. — A year ago, the Saint Mary's University track and field complex hosted its first collegiate meet — with the emphasis on
its.
After all, the April 17 Phil Esten Challenge was the first meet ever held on the new track, but in reality, it was UW-La Crosse's meet — held on SMU's track.
Saturday afternoon, the Cardinals officially hosted their inaugural meet on their new track, taking part in the eight-team SMU Open.
And what an inaugural meet it turned out to be.
Teri Heinzen (Marshfield, Wis.) clocked a time of 13.18 to win the 100, while
Jake Traxler (Le Center, Minn.) was second in the steeplechase and
Josiah Ryks (Austin, Minn.) and
Ryan Wockenfus (New London, Wis.) were third in the 400 and javelin, respectively, to fuel the Cardinals' attack.
“It was a great day all the way around,” said SMU coach Shawn McMahon. “The weather cooperated (after a brief thunderstorm earlier forced the high jump and pole vault to be moved inside) and the meet went off without a hitch.
“Add to that that fact that our teams both performed exceptionally well, and it was just about a perfect day.”
Traxler covered the 10,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 10:01.72 — more than 30 seconds faster than his previous best — to place second, while Ryks stopped the clock in 50.85 in placing third in the 400 and Wockenfus uncorked a toss of 44.79 meters to finish third in the javelin.
Kevin Hein (Zumbro Falls, Minn.) chipped in a fifth in the discus (44.24 meters), while Ben Carlson was fifth in the 1,500 (4:31.68) and
Benton Kodet (Northfield) was sixth in the 800 (1:59.85).
Along with Heinzen's first in the 100, the SMU women also got a fifth from
Sara Harstad (Chatfield, Minn. in the hammer, a fifth from
Nicole Heitman (Hayward, Wis.) in the discus (37.11 meters) and a sixth from Coco Booker in the shot put (11.41 meters).
