TRACK AND FIELD TEAMS WIN FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS MEET

ANNIKA WALL, TRUMPET MANAGING EDITOR

The Wartburg Men’s and Women’s Track & Field teams combined to win two overall team and 15 individual titles at the Friday Night Lights meet on Friday, Feb. 7. As the meet host, the men came in first and second in the 400m led by a first-place finish by Grant Olson ’23 in 51.88 seconds.

Dalton Martin ’22 and Frosty Lorimer ’21 took the top two places in the 800m. Wartburg also took fourth through eighth place in the event for 33 points total. Matt Heinzman ’21, Alec Ille ’22 and Wyatt Schmidt ’22 earned the top three places in the men’s mile. Curren Matthias ’21 and Conor Sapp ’20 also placed in the top eight. Ryan Dalton ’21 earned a first-place title in the 3000m and was followed by runner-up Sean McDermott ’23.

The Wartburg distance crew also earned six of the top eight finishes in the 5000m. Ander Ellison ’22 earned second place in 15:42.12. Dallas Wright ’21, the reigning outdoor national champion in the 400m hurdles, finished .18 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher in the 60m hurdles to earn first place. Wartburg also took the first four places in the 4x400m relay.

The winning team, which ran a time of 3:23.13, included Wright, Schmidt, Martin and Jared Braun ’23. The Wartburg women, led by a first-place finish by Mikala Sidney ’23, scored 24 points in the 60m dash. Sidney followed up the finish with a title in the 200m as well and finished 1.23 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Shaniya Matthews of Mount Mercy.

All six of Wartburg’s 400m runners finished in the top six. Jaderial Staebler ’21, Carson McSorley ’22 and Jackie Ganshirt ’21 finished first through third, respectively, and all finished in under a minute. Aubrie Fisher ’23 showed her prowess extends from distance to middle distance with a 2:22.23 finish in the 800m. Cassidy Christopher ’21 won the 3000m as well.

Sailor Hinegardner ’22 led a septet of Wartburg hurdlers and won the 60m hurdles in 9.27 seconds. Wartburg’s 4x400m relay team of Ganshirt, McSorley, Erica Rittgers ’20 and Staebler also placed first and was the only relay to finish in under four minutes. In field events, Darian Wegner ’21 won the long jump and Anna Rehberg ’20 won the weight throw.

Both teams are scheduled to travel to Whitewater, Wisconsin, for the Midwest Elite Meet on Saturday, Feb. 15.