University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Badger Challenge
Panther track & field gets final tune-up at Badger Challenge
5/3/2024 7:51:00 PM | Track and Field
UNI claims three champions in the final meet before the MVC Outdoor Championships next weekend.
MADISON, Wisc. — The UNI track and field team headed east from Cedar Falls to compete in the Badger Challenge hosted by Wisconsin on Friday afternoon, tuning itself up ahead of next week's Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Outdoor Championship meet. The Panthers tallied three champions, as well as three more Panther champions competing unattached.
In the field on the men's side, Brendan Safley recorded a career-best mark of 5.36 meters with a first-place finish on the pole vault. In the high jump, Ethan Peters finished with a mark of 1.94 meters to claim a third-place finish.
It was a career day in the ring for thrower Carson Lienau who was competing unattached for the meet. Lineau posted career-best marks of 17.87 meters and 51.50 meters in the shot put and discus respectively. He finished fifth place in the shot put and fourth place in the discus. Another career best came out of the discus ring with David Russell, also competing unattached, finished in fifth place with a throw of 51.39 meters. Just behind him was Sebastian Swistak competing unattached with a sixth-place finish and a mark of 50.37 meters. In the shot put, Spencer Kessel finished in sixth place with a mark of 17.70 meters.
In the hammer throw, Jacob Baier led the way for the Panthers with a third-place throw of 60.76 meters. Recording a career-best, 58.63-meter throw, Justin Olson finished in fifth place just ahead of Bo Braunecker in sixth place with a throw of 57.89 meters.
On the women's side of the field, Katie Fare put up a career-best in the shot put while competing unattached with a first-place, 17.26-meter toss. Two more Panthers recorded career bests in the shot put with Breanna Hackman and Allison Flanscha taking fourth and sixth places respectively with throws of 14.81 meters and 13.71 meters. Jorie Hanenburg was the last Panther on the shot put board with a seventh-place finish and a throw of 13.69 meters. In the discus, Hackman finished with a throw of 47.43 meters and took fifth place with Allison Flanscha not far behind after a career-best throw of 43.97 meters for a seventh-place finish. The hammer throw saw Kileigh Lachacz compete unattached for UNI and record a throw of 46.84 meters.
Josey Dunbar came out of the pit with the lead in the long jump, recording a first-place, 5.86-meter jump to take home the title. Maleah Walker put up a 5.40-meter jump to take fourth place while Amanda Lietz tallied a career-best 5.23 meters for an eighth-place finish. Dunbar also took third in the triple jump with a jump of 10.93 meters, her new career best.
Alivia Silvestri competed unattached at the Badger Challenge and took home third place in the pole vault with a height of 3.67 meters. In the high jump, Soren Maricle finished in sixth place with a height of 1.64 meters.
On the track, the UNI women claimed one unattached title with Libby Wedewer tying her career best with a 200-meter run of 24.25 seconds. Jill Bennett was close behind with a run of 25.03 seconds for a fourth-place finish. Wedewer also took third place in the 100-meter with a time of 12.03 seconds. Bennett followed close behind again with a fifth-place finish of 12.12 seconds.
In the 400-meter hurdles, Anna Winterrowd took home silver with a time of 1:03.86. In sixth place was Tiffany Woerdehoff with a time of 1:12.70. Three Panthers recorded career bests in the 800-meter run. Sophia Jungling was not one of the four, but led the UNI pack with a third-place finish and a time of 2:09.09. The trio of Mary Kelly, Kendra Nissen, and Liza Schaffer all finished with career-best times. Kelly finished in 2:12.76 and in fourth place while Nissen ran a fifth-place 2:13.35 and Schaffer finished in seventh with a time of 2:16.05.
In the 5,000 meters, Kayla Young led the Panthers with a time of 18:43.68 which placed her in sixth place with Lauren Klein finishing just behind her in eighth place with a time of 19:19.74. The final two races on the women's side saw Amanda Lietz take home eighth place with a time of 16.11 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles and Ella Popenhagen finished the 1,500 in eighth place with a time of 4:45.06.
A pair of titles came on the men's side of the track with the 4x400-meter relay team of Jayden Dickson, Kon Dut, Micaiah Ellis and Karson Kleve taking home the gold in a time of 3:15.74. Running unattached, Luke Meyers led the pack in the 200 meters with a time of 21.25 seconds, a new career best. Under a half second behind him was Deonte Dean in second place with a time of 21.69 seconds. Zach Fall was the third Panther to cross the finish line with a time of 21.71 in fifth place. Meyers notched another career best with a 10.63-second 100-meter dash which placed him in second. Austin Kunkle finished the 100 meters with a career-best time of 10.96 seconds for fourth place.
The 400-meter hurdles saw Bill Mukhtar run unattached and finish with a third-place time of 56.33 seconds. The final race on the men's side saw four Panthers place in the top-eight of the 800 meters with Chase Knoche leading the way for UNI running unattached. He finished in second place with a time of 1:48.56. Kon Dut was close behind with a time of 1:55.91 in fourth place with Derek Woods in fifth place with a time of 1:56.31 running unattached. Karson Kleve finished in eighth place in the 800 meters with a time of 1:56.97.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action next weekend at the MVC Outdoor Championships, May 10-12 at Indiana State's Gibson Track & Field Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Select events for the three-day meet will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Players Mentioned
