Mount Pleasant, Mich. - The Alma College men's and women's track team continued the indoor portion of their season at the Jack Skoog Open on Friday (January 11). Both teams took first place in the team rankings, out of five Division 1 and 3 opponents and 15 scored events. The women earned a total of 125 points; the men 98.
What Happened
- In the field events, Payton Hirschenberger (Freeland, Mich. / Saginaw Nouvel) took second place in the long jump and triple jump events, landing at 6.17 and 12.70 meters.
- Lauren Kucharczyk (Livonia, Mich. / Churchill) won the women's long jump event with a 3.97-meter leap.
- Senior Justin Jones (Rockford, Mich. / Cedar Springs) took second place in the mile run with his time of 4:35.20. Blaire Showers (Ithaca, Mich. / Ithaca) finished third in the women's race (6:08.48).
- The Scots had several first-place finishes in the sprint events. Sophomore Timothy Minier (Battle Creek, Mich. / St. Philip Catholic Central) won the men's 60 and 200-meter dash races, with times of 7.29 and 23.95 seconds.
- Jacob Wildenhaus (Jackson, Mich. / Lumen Christi) took first place in the 60-meter hurdles event, crossing the finish line at 9.14 seconds.
- In the women's 60 meter dash, Grace Hearth (Freeland, Mich. / Valley Lutheran) won with an 8.53-second finish. Likewise, Erin Goggins took first in the 200-meter sprint (30.36).
- The men's 4x400 relay team of Hirschenberger, Minier, Jared Fleming (Williamston, Mich. / Williamston), and Kaleb Spratling beat Olivet and Calvin College in the race with a time of 3:41.28.
They Said It
"We came into tonight with a focus on just competing and letting the results take care of themselves. As a result, we had some great outcomes in events all the way around, especially for the first meet after break. We are really looking forward to seeing how this team grows over the course of the season. We were definitely happy with our effort."
- Head Coach Matt Chovanec
Up Next
The Scots are back in action at the SVSU Doug Hansen Open on Friday, January 18. The meet will begin at 2:30 pm at Saginaw Valley State University.
