Strong Day for Bethany Track and Field

 
DULUTH, Minn. - Bethany's men's and women's track and field teams competed at St. Scholastica. Plenty of school records dropped and the team looked extremely sharp. "Each week we have a plan and each week that plan seems to get outdone. The coaching staff is very proud of how hard these athletes work and every meet we are being treated to something special,"  stated head coach Michael Dunn.
 
   With personal bests and marks in the top 10 in school history, within their respective events, multiple athletes had a phenomenal day. Highlighting this group, senior Luke Hahn competed in the weight throw and the pole vault finishing with marks in both events good enough to put him number three on the all-time lists (PV – 10'6"/WT – 11.75), these marks also happened to be personal bests. "Watching Luke go back and forth between the weight throw and the pole vault was truly amazing. After vaulting into the record books he threw his best weight throw of his life and then continued to vault out of his mind. Luke had the best track and field day of his life today and it was almost surreal in the way he got better as the day went on."
 
   On the women's side, Anna Lieske somewhat stole the show. Her day began with pole vault. While pole vaulting she competed in two other events, the 600m and the 60m High Hurdle. In the 600m, Lieske finished with a personal best (1:53.98) good enough for third on the all-time list. She then ran a personal record in the 60m hurdles (12.40). After all of this was accomplished, she vaulted 8'4" for a new school record. "Just when you think Anna is doing too much, she goes ahead and pulls off something like this. And this was only the start to her day"
 
    Jessica Berlinger competed in the 600m with Anna and ran a time good enough for number five on the top 10 list (1:57.51). Both Kari Marzinske and Danielle Marzinske had great days of their own in the 60m High Hurdles with Anna. Danielle finished her 60m High Hurdle race with a personal record and a time good enough for number five on the top 10 list (10.36). Kari completed her High Hurdle race in a season best and number two on the top 10 list (10:07). "Both Marzinske sisters are beginning to show signs that they are ready to compete at conference and our entire coaching staff expects quite a bit from these two."
 
    In the 400m race, Lydia Hildebrandt tied her own school record with a finishing time of 1:03.64. The next race on the track was an incredible performance by Stefan Prince in the 500m. "Stefan is starting to learn how to run the mid-distance races and every meet he is becoming more lethal. We are very excited about Stefan's future." Stefan ran a 1:08.87 500m, breaking the school record by nearly five seconds. After the 500m, both Noah Larson and Kevin Harris competed in the 60m finals and ran onto the top 10 all-time list. 
 
   In the shot put ring, four of the five women competing had personal bests. Marissa Milless tossed the shot 8.80m, number 3 on the all-time list. In her second week of the year, Lindsey Stewart continues to show signs of improvement as she chucked the shot 8.70m, landing her sixth on the all-time list.
 
   The triple jump had a couple of great surprises. Anna Lieske jumped her second best mark ever, landing her second on the all-time list (9.80m). Her jump of course happening after her productive morning in the 600m, the 60m High Hurdles and the Pole Vault. Possibly more impressive, Lydia Wildauer jumped for only the second time in her life and first time at a meet and in doing so, jumped her way into the record books (9.52m). This jump put her number 6 on the all-time list and was truly an incredible accomplishment. "Watching Lydia Wildauer triple jump was amazing. The fact that she has not had any practice or experience in the event makes what she did that much more impressive. Our coaching staff is absolutely elated and cannot wait until she gets a few days of jumping practice under her belt."
 
   Possibly the accomplishment of the year, came in the men's 200m race. Kevin Harris ran the best race of his young track career in a school record time of 23.17. "This time shows the hard work and dedication that Kevin brings to practice each and every day. We all know how great it is to break a record, but to break a 200m record by .4 seconds is quite an accomplishment. Kevin's success has trickled down to other athletes in the 200m as well. Jon Overn and Brett LaBore finished their days with huge personal records and solidifies the theory that team momentum can be very fun to watch when it works in the right direction."
 
   In the final event on the track today, the men's 4x400m relay stole the show. With Kevin Harris, Stefan Prince, Luke Hahn, and Josh Grove breaking the school record with a time of 3:38.00. "These guys went into this race with nearly all their energy spent on previous events, yet they fought hard enough to run the fastest relay in school history, that puts a stamp on an impressive day."  Harris, Prince, Hahn and Grove all split their fastest times of their lives and in doing so, left their mark.      
 
   "Every one of the athletes that competed today deserved a great meet and I believe if you ask them, they would tell you it went very well. I can honestly tell that our athletes are causing other teams to turn their heads and recognize that Bethany is for real. I am overjoyed with how well these athletes performed this week and I look forward to getting back to mechanics and fixing some technical aspects on Monday." Bethany will be competing at Carleton College next weekend.