WAVERLY, Iowa - The Wartburg men's and women's track & field teams officially opened the 2021 indoor season at the Hoover Fieldhouse inside The W on Saturday, Jan. 16, sweeping Grand View University and Mount Mercy University during the seventh annual Chelsey M. Henkenius Open. 

The women tallied 279 points ahead of Mount Mercy's 109 and 96 from Grand View. On the men's side, the Knights totaled 227 points, with Grand View following with 167 and Mount Mercy, 102.
 

Men
The Wartburg men's squad's performance was headlined by a pair of stellar races from seniors Joe Freiburger and Dallas Wright. 

Freiburger, the 2020 American Rivers Conference Cross Country MVP, set a Hoover Fieldhouse facility record with a 5,000-meter time of 14:32.34, a second off from his personal best. Wright set a Wartburg indoor track program record with a 60-meter hurdle time of 8.16. His time surpassed the previous record of 8.20, set by Larry Johnson in 2013.

Freshman Deyton Love was just behind Wright as well in the 60m hurdles at 8.29, running into Wartburg's Top 10 list.

Additionally, five other Knights each contributed 10 points towards the team total with first place finishes.

Sophomore Derrick Smith won the 60-meter dash and cracked Wartburg's Indoor Top 10 list with a time of 7.10. Jensen Clapp ran the 600m in 1:28.62 for first place in his collegiate debut. Sophomore Zeph Toe led the Knights' jumpers with a top finish in the triple jump at 42-2.25 for a personal best.

Alec Ille and Sam Madson paced the Wartburg distance crew. Ille won the 3,000-meter run with a PR time of 8:33.40. The Knights finished one through five with Ali Ali, Curren Matthias, Connor Lancial, and Tim Wolf following Allie. 

Madson won the 1,000m with a time of 2:34.04. Wyatt Schmidt and Frosty Lorimer followed. 

Women
The Orange & Black women collected eight first place finishes. 

Alanna Muhammad and Taylan Olson led the Knights' sprinters. Muhammad won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.93, followed by teammates Mikayla Sidney, Brenna Jacobs, and Jackie Ganshirt. Olson won the 400m at 1:01.26.

Aubrie Fisher and Natalie Paulson led the distance runners as Fisher won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:04.19 to finish 38 seconds ahead of the closest competitor. Paulson won the 5K with a PR time of 18:28.91.

Three jumpers claimed top finishes; Breya Christopher in the high jump with a leap of 5-6.5, a foot and a half shy of her school record set last year. Isabelle Albers from the pole vault at 9-3 and Daekota Knott won the triple jump at 36-4.25.

The 4x400-meter relay team of Natalie Clement, Hailey Foxhoven, Jackie Ganshirt, and Brenna Jacobs finished the meet out strong with a first place time of 4:16.24.