University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Badger Windy City Invite
UNI track & field: Benfeldt-Sorensen wins two events at SDSU Indoor Classic
2/10/2024 7:30:00 PM | Track and Field
BROOKINGS, S.D.--- UNI track and field wrapped up an active weekend in South Dakota at the SDSU Indoor Classic in the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex with five first-place finishes, while also sending one athlete to compete at Wisconsin's Badger Windy City Invite in Chicago.
Northern Iowa opened its trip to Brookings by sweeping the top-three positions on the podium in the men's shot put with Carson Lienau placing first with a 17.23-meter toss, with Spencer Kessel taking home second place (17.20 meters) and Sebastian Swistak earning third place (16.33 meters). Brendan Safley recorded a 5.20-meter vault to win the men's pole vault, while Jacob Baier finished in fifth place in the men's weight throw (17.40 meters).
Jack Sumners finished in fifth place in the men's 60-meter hurdles, clocking a time of 8.15 seconds in the finals, as Paige Kisley took sixth place in the women's 60-meter hurdles. Freshman Jerome Jessup took second place in the men's 60-meter dash with a career-best time of 6.73, with Tinashe Chigudu and Luke Meyers following in third and fourth place respectively.
Caroline Benfeldt-Sorensen clocked a new career-best of 7.56 seconds in the women's 60-meter dash finals to take home first place, while also securing the fifth-fastest time in team history in the process. Benfeldt-Sorensen also clinched the title in the women's 200-meter dash in a career-best time of 24.47, setting the program's second-fastest mark in the event all-time and becoming only the third sprinter in team history to run under 24.50 seconds.
Libby Wedewer (24.76) took fourth place in the women's 200-meter dash, while Olivia Kramer (7.69) finished third place in the 60-meter dash. In the women's 400-meter run, Jill Bennet finished in fourth in a time of 56.71 seconds and Libby Wedewer clocked a career-best time of 56.98 to place sixth.
Isaac Vaske also finished in fifth place in the men's 400-meter dash in a career-best time of 48.79. Taking home gold in the men's 200-meter dash, Tinashe Chigudu ran a time of 21.40, as Jerome Jessup (21.63) and Deonte Dean (21.64) finished in fifth and sixth place.
Chase Lauman helped lead the way in the distance events, recording a career-best time of 4:09.46 in the men's mile to take fourth place for the Panthers. In the women's 800-meter run, Sophia Jungling took second place in a time of 2:11.57, while Kendra Nissen ran a career-best time of 2:14.06 to take eighth place.
Closing out the meet in the women's 4x400-meter relay, the team of Auriona Kimbrough, Jill Bennett, Jungling and Nissen placed fourth (3:52.42)
WISCONSIN WINDY CITY INVITE
Junior distance runner Chase Knoche represented the Panthers in the men's 800-meter run on Friday in Chicago, placing fourth with a final time of 1:48.66, etching his name into the UNI record books with the fourth-fastest time in the event in program history.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action next weekend, Feb. 16 at the Iowa Open at the Iowa Indoor Track Building in Iowa City.
Players Mentioned
