NWU Women, Wartburg Men Crowned 2019 A-R-C Indoor Track & Field Champions

2/23/2019 8:12:29 PM

Waverly, Iowa -- -Wartburg men and Nebraska Wesleyan women hold onto day one leads to capture team titles at the 2019 American Rivers Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships.


With a final point total of 181.5, the women of Nebraska Wesleyan claimed their second indoor title in the last three years. NWU led Wartburg by one point going into the final event of the championships and the 4x400 relay team delivered a first-place performance to lock-up the team championship. The team title earned Nebraska Wesleyan Women's Coaching Staff of the Year accolades. The Prairie Wolves are led by head coach Ted Bulling.

Women's Most Valuable Performer honors went to Gabrielle Noland (Track) Loras and Jenna Heimark (Field) of Dubuque. Noland earned conference titles in the 60 meter dash (7.59) and 400 meter (57.51), while taking second in the 200 meter (25.34) and running the first leg of the runner-up 4x200 (1:31.58) relay team. Her performance in the 60 meter dash tied the all-time conference record at 7.59.Noland's efforts earned the Duhawks 30 team points. Heimark scored 14 points for Dubuque with a second-place finish in the triple jump (11.16m) and a bronze medal in the pole vault (3.10m).

On the men's side Wartburg had the title in hand prior to the 4x800 relay. Wartburg bested second-place Loras by 40.5 points to win the program's 10th team title and first since 2015. The Knights, led by head coach Marcus Newsom, earned Men's Coaching Staff of the Year.

For the second year in a row Dubuque's Blaze Murfin was voted Men's Most Valuable Field Performer and Loras' Patrick Mikel picked up his first indoor Most Valuable Tracker Performer honor. Murfin earned conference titles in the shot put (17.53m) and weight throw (18.96m). He is now a two-time champion in the weight throw (2018, 2019) and a three-time champion in the shot put (2016, 2017, 2019). Mikel recorded 29 points for Loras, picking up conference titles in the 200 meter (22.01), 400 meter (47.93) and running the anchor leg of the winning 4x400 (2:20.34) relay. He finished fourth in the 60 meter (7.07) dash and was on the third-place 4x200 (1:29.93) relay. His performance in the 400 meter set a new conference meet record and broke his own all-time conference record. Additionally, the 4x400 relay team set a new conference championship meet record, besting the previous record of 3:21.51 by Simpson in 2017.
Men's
Team Standings
Women's
Team Standings
School Points School Points
1. Wartburg 177 1. Nebraska Wesleyan 181.5
2. Loras 136.5 2. Wartburg 178.5
3. Nebraska Wesleyan 122 3. Loras 156.5
4. Dubuque 104 4. Dubuque 92
5. Central 90.5 5. Central 74
6. Simpson 44 6. Luther 18
7. Luther 36 7. Simpson 14.5
8. Buena Vista 16 8. Coe 14
9. Coe 14 9. Buena Vista 12


Women's Day 2 Highlights
  • Dubuque's Kelsey Betthauser made it back-to-back conference titles in the weight throw with a toss of 17.00m.
  • Just a sophomore, Cassidy Christopher of Wartburg claimed her second conference championshop in the 1-mile run.
  • Dubuque went 1-2 in the women's triple jump with Alyssa Skrove coming away as the gold medal winner with a mark of 11.30m.
  • After tying the the conference's all-time and meet record in the 60 meter dash prelims in a time of 7.59, Loras's Gabrielle Noland ran to a gold medal in the finals. She crossed the finish line in a time of 7.60. This is Noland's second 60 meter title in her two seasons of competition. Noland also claimed the 400 meter dash title with a winning time of 57.51. She defeated the returning champion and runner-up from a season ago.
  • Maggi Bjustrom of Wartburg sprinted to a 9.02 60 meter hurdle time to earn first-place.
  • In the 200 meter dash Alison Beeman of Dubuque set a facility record time of 24.93 on her way to a conference championship. Beeman defeated the defending champion and runner-up from a season ago to claim the title.
  • After finishing fifth in the 800 meter run a season ago, Wartburg's Ashley Stevens climbed to the top of the in 2019. She crossed the finish line in a winning time of 2:18.53.
  • After winning the 5,000 meter run on day one, Carina Collet of Wartburg ran to a first-place finish in the 3,000 meter run on day two. Her winning time was 9:57.83.
  • Central's Courtney Kruthoff won gold in the high jump after earning bronze a season ago. She cleared 1.66m to win the title.
  • The 4x800 relay team of Rylee Bahe, Madi Bahe, Reagan Janzen and Camryn Larsen ran to a first-place finish for Nebraska Wesleyan. Their winning time of 9:36.46 put the Prairie Wolves up one point going into the final event.
  • Nebraska Wesleyan's 4x400 relay team of Anna Frazier, Kaylee Jones, Aspen Rolfes and Elizabeth Jones wrapped up the team championship for NWU with their first-place finish. NWU won the relay in a time of 3:54.41.
Men's Day 2 Highlights
  • Riley Barrett of wartburg surged to the top of the heptathlon field on the final day of competition. Barrett finished with 4,261 points.
  • The men's 1 mile run saw Matt Heinzman of Wartburg earn gold. Heinzman finished in a time of 4:16.70.
  • The 2019 60 meter dash title went to Eliajah Thomas of Loras. Thomas crossed the finish line in a time of 6.95, just three-hunderedths of a secon off the conference meet record.
  • In a time of 8.32, Ryan Rogers of Loras claimed the 60 meter hurdle championship. Rogers also won the pole vault on day one.
  • Once again, Patrick Mikel of Loras set the all-time conference record. This time it came at the conference championships, giving him the conference meet record as well. With the record Mikel was crowned 400 meter champion. His winning time was 47.95. The junior standout also ran to a first-place finish in the 200 meter dash. Mikel won the 200 in a time of 22.01.
  • Mark Schulz of Wartburg was crowned champion of the 800 meter run after running a time of 1:55.23.
  • Wartburg went 1-2 in the 3,000 meter run with Caleb Appleton taking the title in a time of 8:34.62.
  • Nebraska Wesleyan's Chandler Petersen won the high jump with after clearing 2.05m. Petersen out jumped the 2018 conference champion to earn his title.
  • Kortez Pickett of Dubuque had to defeat last year's triple jump champion to claim the 2019 title and that is what he did. Pickett recorded a mark of 14.03m.
  • Dubuque's Blaze Murfin earned his second title of the weekend with a 18.96m heave in the weight throw. Murfin also won the 2018 weight throw title.
  • 2019 host, Wartburg wrapped up the men's title after their 4x800 meter relay took first-place. The team, made up of Matt Heinzman, Conor Sapp, Dalton Martin and Mark Schulz ran a time of 7:53.52.
  • Loras' 4x400 meter relay team of Tyson Morrison, Anakin Hall, Evan Gradoville and Patrick Mikel closed out the 2019 championships with a title and new conference meet record. The new record stands at 3:20.34. The previous record was set in 2017 by Simpson's C. Wetterling, T. Tupper, M. Pearson and K. Wicks.

Women's Day 1 Highlights
  • For the second year in a row, Central's Mary Gray and Kiki Pingel went 1-2 in the women's pentathlon. Gray, just a sophomore, is now a two-time pentathlon champion. She claimed this year's title with a point total of 3,352.
  • After finishing third a season ago in the women's shot put, Nebraska Wesleyan's Dayton Dolincheck climbed to the top of the podium in 2019 with a toss of 14.03m.
  • NWU's Maddie Tolly made it back-to-back titles in the pole vault. She won this year's event with a height of 3.40m.
  • In the 60-meter dash prelims, Loras' Gabrielle Noland tied the conference's all-time record with a time of 7.59. Central's Abigail Davis also ran 7.59 in 2014.
  • In the women's long jump Wartburg sophomore Jarika Eisentrager picked up her second-straight long jump title with a leap of 5.36m.
  • After winning the American Rivers Conference cross country title this fall Wartburg's Carina Collet started the Indoor Championships off with a title in the 5,000m. She crossed the finish line in 17:26.12. A season ago she was runner-up in the event.
  • The distance medley relay title went to the host team, Wartburg, in a time of 12:26.02. The relay was made up of Trinity Borland, Jaderial Staebler, Lily Campbell and Carson McSorley.
  • The NWU 4x200 closed out day one in dramatic fashion with anchor Kaylee Jones coming from behind to edge out Loras by three-hundredths of a second. Aspen Rolfes, Alexandra Daniel, Elizabeth Jones and Kaylee Jones crossed the line in a time of 1:41.55. The winning time missed the conference record by one-one hundredth of a second.

Men's Day 1 Highlights
  • Host school, Wartburg, started this year's championships off on a high note, going 1-2-3 in the 5,000m. Sam Pinkowski picked up the gold medal with a winning time of 14:40.87.
  • In the men's shot put Blaze Murfin of Dubuque earned gold with a heave of 17.53. A season ago Murfin finished third in the event.
  • The 2019 pole vault title went to Loras' Ryan Rogers, who cleared a height of 4.46m.
  • Through four of seven events in the heptathlon, Caleb Jennings of Central leads the field with 2,536 points.
  • Famiek Cook of Wartburg leaped to a distance of 7.36m to win the long jump title.
  • The Wartburg Knights' Distance Medley team of Frosty Lorimer, Wyatt Schmidt, Conor Sapp and Casey Roberts crossed the line in 10:17.33 to earn first-place.
  • Wartburg's 4x200 team closed out day one with another first-place finish for the Knights. The relay, made up of Dallas Wright, Joe Duehr, Famiek Cook and Roberto Salamo crossed the line in a time of 1:29.80.
Men's
All-Conference Performers
Women's
All-Conference Performers
Name, School Event Place Name, School Event Place
Blaze Murfin, Dubuque Shot Put 1st Mary Gray, Central Pentathlon 1st
Chase Bonner, Buena Vista Shot Put 2nd Kiki Pingel, Central Pentathlon 2nd
Nathan Fitzgerald, Central Shot Put 3rd Addy Vinton, NWU Pentathlon 3rd
Ryan Rogers, Loras Pole Vault 1st Dayton Dolincheck, NWU Shot Put 1st
Will Daniels, Central Pole Vault 2nd Anna Rehberg, Wartburg Shot Put 2nd
Tyler Miksch, NWU Pole Vault 3rd Grace Dupuy, Dubuque Shot Put 3rd
Sam Pinkowski, Wartburg 5,000m 1st Jarika Eisentrager, Wartburg Long Jump 1st
Joe Freiburger, Wartburg 5,000m 2nd Elyse Acompanado, Wartburg Long Jump 2nd
Caleb Appleton, Wartburg 5,000m 3rd Demetria Johnson, Dubuque Long Jump 3rd
Frosty Lorimer, Wyatt Schmidt, Conor Sapp, Casey Roberts - Wartburg Distance Medley 1st Maddie Tolly, NWU Pole Vault 1st
Alex Streitz, Juan Antonio Nelson, Kyle Gilberg, Dan Iselin - Luther Distance Medley 2nd Nicki Schneider, Wartburg Pole Vault 2nd
Cole Conklin-Little, Anakin Hall, Mike Jasa, Jack Carroll - Loras Distance Medley 3rd Jenna Heimark, Dubuque Pole Vault 3rd
Famiek Cook, Wartburg Long Jump 1st Carina Collet, Wartburg 5,000m 1st
Trent Koehler, NWU Long Jump 2nd Kassie Rosenbum, Loras 5,000m 2nd
Will Daniels, Central Long Jump 3rd Hanna Hegemann, NWU 5,000m 3rd
Dallas Wright, Joe Duehr, Famiek Cook, Roberto Salamo - Wartburg 4x200 1st Trinity Borland, Jaderial Staebler, Lily Campbell, Carson McSorley - Wartburg Distance Medley 1st
Jeremiah Steed, Dylan Kutsch, Jaelen Boysen, Isaiah Ellis - Dubuque 4x200 2nd Madi Bahe Devine Gines, Reagan Janzen, Taylor Brtek - NWU Distance Medley 2nd
Patrick Mikel, Josh Smith, Tyson Morrison, De'Andre Klein - Loras 4x200 3rd Ellie Osterberger, Bella Solis, Allie Serres, Molly Walkner - Loras Distance Medley 3rd
Riley Barrett, Wartburg Heptathlon 1st Aspen Rolfes, Alexandra Daniel, Elizabeth Jones, Kaylee Jones - NWU 4x200 1st
Rudy Vrtiska, NWU Heptathlon 2nd Gabrielle Noland, Stevie Lambe, Alexis Alt, Terrianna Black - Loras 4x200 2nd
Tyler Fowler, Dubuque Heptathlon 3rd Alanna Muhammad, Jackie Ganshirt, Morgan Funke, Brenna Jacobs - Wartburg 4x200 3rd
Matt Heinzman, Wartburg 1mile 1st Kelsey Betthauser, Dubuque Weight Throw 1st
Dan Iselin, Luther 1mile 2nd Kennedy Morris, Central Weight Throw 2nd
Sam Pinkowski, Wartburg 1mile 3rd Maddie Fitzgibbons, NWU Weight Throw 3rd
Elijah Thomas, Loras 60m 1st Cassidy Christopher, Wartburg 1mile 1st
Will Daniels, Central 60m 2nd Hanna Hegemann, NWU 1mile 2nd
De'Andre Klein, Loras 60m 3rd Hannah Awtry, NWU 1mile 3rd
Ryan Rogers, Loras 60m Hurdles 1st Alyssa Skrove, Dubuque Triple Jump 1st
Reese Hennerberg, NWU 60m Hudles 2nd Jenna Heimark, Dubuque Triple Jump 2nd
Famiek Cook, Wartburg 60m Hurdles 3rd Lilia Edwards, Wartburg Triple Jump 3rd
Patrick Mikel, Loras 400m 1st Gabrielle Noland, Loras 60m 1st
Tyson Morrison, Loras 400m 2nd Terrianna Black, Loras 60m 2nd
Joe Duehr, Wartburg 400m 3rd Alanna Muhammad, Wartburg 60m 3rd
Mark Schulz, Wartburg 800m 1st Maggi Bjustrom, Wartburg 60m Hurdles 1st
Casey Roberts, Wartburg 800m 2nd Elayna Bahl, Loras 60m Hurdles 2nd
Kyle Pape, Central 800m 3rd Demetria Johnson, Dubuque 60m Hurdles 3rd
Patrick Mikel, Loras 200m 1st Alison Beeman, Dubuque 200m 1st
Dallas Wright, Wartburg 200m 2nd Gabrielle Noland, Loras 200m 2nd
Jeremiah Steed, Dubuque 200m 3rd Aspen Rolfes, NWU 200m 3rd
Caleb Appleton, Wartburg 3,000m 1st Gabrielle Noland, Loras 400m 1st
Joe Freiburger, Wartburg 3,000m 2nd Elizabeth Jones, NWU 400m 2nd
Tom Altier, Luther 3,000m 3rd Kaylee Jones, NWU 400m 3rd
Chandler Petersen, NWU High Jump 1st Ashley Stevens, Wartburg 800m 1st
Will Daniels, Central High Jump 2nd Belle Tyynismaa, Wartburg 800m 2nd
Grayson McBride, NWU High Jump 3rd Camryn Larsen, NWU 800m 3rd
Kortez Pickett, Dubuque Triple Jump 1st Carina Collet, Wartburg 3,000m 1st
Trent Koehler, NWU Triple Jump 2nd Cassidy Christopher, Wartburg 3,000m 2nd
Jeremiah Steed, Dubuque Triple Jump 3rd Kassie Rosenbum, Loras 3,000m 3rd
Blaze Murfin, Dubuque Weight Throw 1st Courtney Kruthoff, Central High Jump 1st
Austin Feyen, Dubuque Weight Throw 2nd Bella Solis, Loras High Jump 2nd
Jared Pohlmann, NWU Weight Throw 3rd Tori VanVelzen, Central High Jump 3rd
Matt Heinzman, Conor Sapp, Dalton Martin, Mark Schulz - Wartburg 4x800 1st Rylee Bahe, Madi Bahe, Reagan Janzen, Camryn Larsen - Nebraska Wesleyan 4x800 1st
Mike Jasa, Conor Otting, Joe Eichhorn, Cole Conklin-Little - Loras 4x800 2nd Ashley Stevens, Carson McSorley, Jaderial Staebler, Erica Rittgers - Wartburg 4x800 2nd
David Will, Collin Kern, Carsten Thompson, Kyle Gilberg - Luther 4x800 3rd Ellie Osterberger, Kaylee Osterberger, Kemunto Ondande, Allie Serres - Loras 4x800 3rd
Tyson Morrison, Anakin Hall, Evan Gradoville, Patrick Mikel - Loras 4x400 1st Anna Frazier, Kaylee Jones, Aspen Rolfes, Elizabeth Jones - NWU 4x400 1st
Dallas Wright, Famiek Cook, Roberto Salamo, Casey Roberts - Wartburg 4x400 2nd Jackie Ganshirt, Brenna Jacobs, Lily Campbell, Belle Tyynismaa - Wartburg 4x400 2nd
Michael Merical, Marcus Thimm, Ben Christenson, Kyle Dickinson - NWU 4x400 3rd Stevie Lambe, Alexis Alt, Elayna Bahl, Bella Solis - Loras 4x400 3rd

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