University of Northern Iowa
Larry Wieczorek Invitational
UNI track & field notch career-best at Larry Wieczorek Invitational
1/20/2024 6:24:00 PM | Track and Field
IOWA CITY, Iowa — UNI track and field wrapped up an active weekend of double meet action on Saturday as the Panthers competed at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational, hosted by the University of Iowa at the Iowa Indoor Track Building on Friday and Saturday.
Katy Stephens kicked off the first day of competition in Iowa City in the women's pentathlon with a fourth-place finish and a career-best score of 3,530 points, finishing atop the leaderboard in the high jump and shot put. Zach Butcher placed second in the heptathlon with a career-best total of 5,160 points with first-place finishes in the 60-meter dash, long jump and shot put. Brody Lovell placed third with 4,679 points.
In Friday's field events, Spencer Kessel placed fourth in the men's shot put with a career-best throw of 18.23 meters. Rylie Todd, competing in the women's high jump finished in fourth place with a 1.70-meter jump, while Ethan Peters landed in fifth-place in the men's high jump after clearing two meters. Brendan Safley meanwhile placed second in the men's pole vault premier after vaulting 2.10 meters.
Tyler Colvin kicked off Saturday's track events in the men's mile, finishing second with a career-best time of 4:14.10. Kendra Nissen won the women's 200 meters in a time of 2:17.02, with Amelia Hill (2:17.69) and Liza Schaffer (2:18.34) finishing in second and third place respectively.
Isaac Vaske placed fourth in the men's 400-meter with a career-best time of 49.49. Erin Kerkhoff finished in fourth place in the women's 400-meter in a time of 58.84, as Chase Knoche came in second place in the men's 800-meter with a time of 1:49.61, with Jayden Dickson placing fifth with a time of 1:52.56 in the event.
Tinashe Chigudu took home first place in the men's 60-meter dash in a time of 6.77. On the women's side of the 60-meter dash, Caroline Benfeldt-Sorensen finished in fourth place recording a time of 7.66.
In the men's 4x400-meter relay, Mitchell, Meyers, Knoche and Ellis finished in fifth place in a time of 3:19.06. Eden Barrett, Jill Bennett, Auriona Kimbrough and Libby Wedewer clocked in at 3:52.80 to finish in third place in the women's 4x400-meter relay.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action next weekend as UNI makes a return trip to Iowa City for the Black and Gold Invite, January 26-27 at the Iowa Indoor Track Building.
Players Mentioned
