DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Wartburg College men's and women's track & field teams opened the 2021 outdoor season Thursday, April 1 at the Loras College Easter Mid Week Invite.
The meet was Wartburg's first outdoor competition since 2019, and featuring a combined nine first place finishes.
Joe Freiburger headlined the Knights' competition with a school record 10,000-meter run time of 29:36.5, currently the fastest in Division III. He broke the previously set record by Brian Chenoweth in 2009 at 30:07.34.
Wartburg's male distance runners also claimed a first place finished in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Curren Matthias earned the eighth-best outdoor time in Wartburg history with a time of 9:22.04, and was trailed by teammate
Liam Conroy for a runner-up time of 9:37.48.
In the 1,500 meter run, the Knights collected a with third place time from
Ali Ali at 3:57.26.
Morgan Shirley-Fairbairn and Sam Schmitz finished second and third behind Freiburger in the 10K.
Sprinter
Dallas Wright notched the third-best 400-meter hurdle time at Wartburg, just shy of his personal record at 52.20, a first place time. He was also part of Wartburg's first place 4x100-meter relay team (Wright,
Riley Nolan,
Randy Williams,
Derrick Smith) that clocked a time of 41.49. Both are currently ranked first in Division III.
Nolan also won the javelin throw with a heave of 167 feet, 3 inches.
Matt Egts finished second at 160-5.
During his collegiate debut,
Trent Allard tied for second in the high jump at 6-0.75.
The Wartburg women tallied four top finishes. The distance running duo of
Carina Collet and
Aubrie Fisher each earned first place times; Collet in the 10K at 36:27.21 for a Wartburg Top 10 time, and Fisher in the 1,500m with a finish of 4:38.91.
Breya Christopher, the American Rivers Conference Indoor High Jump Champion, carried over her prowess into the outdoor season, winning with a leap of 5-5. Jumping teammate
Shaniah Johnson took third in both the high jump (17-1.5) and triple jump (36-3.5).
Nicki Schneider won the javelin throw at 115-1.
The Knights' top 4x400-meter relay team took second, along with its 'B' team taking third place.
Natalie Clement,
Jackie Ganshirt,
Brenna Jacobs, and
Ryin Lehmann claimed a runner-up time of 4:06.32, while
Annie Mast,
Carson McSorley,
Alanna Muhammad, and
Rachel Nagel were just behind at 4:06.49.
Up next, the Knights will host the Wartburg Outdoor Select April 9-10 at Walston-Hoover Stadium.
