Multis, Distance Crews Shine At Drake Relays
4/27/2017 9:24:00 PM | Track and Field
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Panther track and field team kicked off the 2017 Drake Relays with top-performances in the multis and the distance races today, pulling in a total of 20 personal-bests on Wednesday and Thursday.
Kelsey Kirchoff and Hannah Truniger both competed at tonight's Distance Carnival, pulling in over 30 second PRs and top-five times in UNI history in the 10,000 and 5,000 meters.
Kirchoff got things started with a time of 35:53.27 in the 10,000 meters for ninth overall out of 25 runners. The time ranks second all-time at UNI, trailing only Traci Hawley who ran a time of 35:16.68 in 2008. Kirchoff's time today also ranks her in the top-five in the MVC.
Truniger followed suit with a new personal-best time of 16:23.87, just narrowly missing out on the UNI record of 16:23.85 set by Agnes Kroneraff in 2002. It pushes her into the top-48 in the NCAA West regional and is the best time by over 20 seconds in the MVC heading into the weekend.
The Panther multis crew wrapped up competition today as well with Lauren Frederick leading the way with a high finish in the women's heptathlon. The junior finished with a personal-best of 4,784 points for fourth place overall.
She began with a PR time of 14.50 in the 100 meter hurdles to take third, followed by season-bests in the high jump (5-1.75) and the shot put (34-10.25) to place in the top-five in both. The Paola, Kan., native ended the first day of competition with a fifth place finish in the 200 meters with a time of 26.33.
Frederick got Thursday started with a fourth place finish in the long jump, going for a mark of 17-4.75. She notched a distance of 80-3.00 in the javelin before wrapping up her day with a new career-best in the 800 meters, running a time of 2:20.25 for fourth.
Frederick was joined in the heptathlon by true freshmen Brooke Lorenz and Amanda Wiebke, with Lorenz also grabbing a PR point total of 4,115. Lorenz came away from the competition with personal-bests in the shot put (28-6.50) and the 800 meters (2:32.68) while Wiebke scored a career-best in the 100 meter hurdles (15.89).
Sophomore Austin Heitland scored a personal-best in the decathlon, finishing 10th overall with a total of 6,213 points. He opened the first day of competition by winning his heat of the 100 meter dash with a PR time of 11.09 to finish second overall, followed by a season-best in the shot put of 36-8.25.
The Austinville, Iowa, native scored a personal-best in the high jump of 6-0.50 to finish in the top-five before winning the 400 meter dash in 50.12 and scoring a personal-best in the long jump of 21-3.50 to end the first day of events. He continued his strong performance into today, earning career-best marks in the pole vault (13-1.50) and the 1,500 meters (4:40.81) to wrap up the competition.
True freshman Cade Kirkpatrick completed his second career decathlon today at the Drake Relays, racking in 5,563 points. He finished the competition with six career-best marks out of the 10 events, including starting the first day with a PR in the 100 meters (11.40) and the shot put (38-2.25).
On Thursday, Kirkpatrick got things started in the 110 meter hurdles, placing in the top-five overall with an improved personal-best time of 15.15. He followed it up with a strong mark of 154-11.00 for his second PR of the day and ended the competition with PRs in the discus (125-0.00) and the 1,500 meters (5:21.77).
The Panthers return to action tomorrow at the Drake Relays with track events beginning at 9:45 a.m. with the men's 110 meter hurdles and action in the field starting at 11 a.m.
Players Mentioned
