ST. PETER, Minn. — For four years, Saint Mary's University's
Derek Wherley (Missoula, Mont.) has been determined to break the school's hammer throw record.
Saturday afternoon — in the first outdoor meet of his final collegiate season — Wherley completed his mission, uncorking a school-record throw of 41.60 meters at the Lee Krough Invitational.
Unfortunately, Wherley's name lasted in the record books for just over 25 minutes, as teammate
Andrew Brueggen (Holmen, Wis.) bettered the mark by 14 meters with his event-winning throw of 55.19 meters.
“It was a great battle (between the two),” said SMU coach Shawn McMahon. “Derek has been trying since his freshman year to break that (hammer throw) record, and for him to do it today was great.
“Too bad (the record) only lasted for 25 minutes,” McMahon added with a laugh. “They both had great days — Andrew's proved to be just a little better.”
Brueggen also added a 10th in the discus (36.35 meters), while Wherley was also 11th in the shot (11.53 meters) 13th in the discus (33.98 meters).
Jake Traxler (L Center, Minn.) finished second in the steeplechase (10:35.37) and
Ryan Wockenfus (New London, Wis.) raced to a third-place finish in the javelin (50.19), while
Curt VanAsten (Shiocton, Wis.) also collected a third for the Cardinal men, stopping the clock in 58.18 in the 400 hurdles, and
Josiah Ryks (Austin, Minn.) finished fourth in the in the 200 with a time of 23.42.
On the women's side, the Cardinals got seventh-place efforts from
Ashley Acosta (Winnebago, Minn.) in the 800 (2:26.70) and Coco Booker in the shot put (11.81 meters), while
Nicole Heitmann (Hayward, Wis.) finished eighth in the discus (36.37 meters), and
Joanna Pace (Minoqua, Wis.) and
Jill Spitzmueller (New Brighton, Minn.) added ninth-place showings in the 800 (2:29.22) and steeplechase (13:15.39), respectively.
