Saturday, May 14, 2005

Valparaiso posted a fourth place finish on Saturday afternoon at the Mid-Continent Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Kansas City, Mo.

The Crusaders finished with 112 points for the three days of competition, 22 behind third place Southern Utah. Valpo was six points ahead of UMKC. Chicago State finished sixth with just nine points. Western Illinois won the meet with 232 points, edging out Oral Roberts' 220 points.

Valpo had a big final day on the track. Three Crusaders scored in the 1,500m run, led by Danielle Nunnelly's (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) fourth place finish in 4:49.03. Jobeth Schmiesing (Mankato, Minn./West H.S.) was seventh in 4:58.22 while Rachel Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit H.S.) finished eighth with a time of 4:59.18.

Nelson was Valpo's lone scorer in the 800m run, finishing eighth with a time of 2:21.57. Nunnelly and Schmiesing finished seventh and eighth respectively in the 5,000m run with times of 18:37.38 and 18:39.08. Teammate Rachael Button (Farmington Hills, Mich./Farmington H.S.) led Valpo in the 5,000m with a sixth place finish crossing the finish line in 18:35.51.

Melanie Wilson (Saint Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain H.S.), who set a school record in the preliminary heat of the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.75 seconds finished fifth in the finals with a time of 15.08 seconds.

Amanda Meyer (Somerset, Wis./Somerset H.S.) finished seventh in the 400m dash with a time of 1:02.12 while Maggie Zellner (Downers Grove, Ill./Benet Academy) was seventh in the 400m hurdles with a mark of 1:05.37.

Both of Valpo's relays also finished fifth on the afternoon. The 4x100m squad of Laura Arloszynski (Greenfield, Wis./Greenfield H.S.), Carissa Heinold (Charleston, Ill./Charleston H.S.), Patricia Kloth (Medford, Wis./Medford Area H.S.), and Wilson finished in a time of 49.77 seconds. The 4x400m relay of Zellner, Meyer, Mary Frisch (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.), and Wilson turned in a time of 4:09.43.

On the infield, Emilie Marsicek (Spalding, Mich./Carney-Nadeau H.S.) finished runner-up in the discus with a mark of 129'9". Teammate Holly Hagen (Hobart, Ind./Hobart H.S.) was fourth with a toss of 127'0" while Rachel Liptak (Temecula, Calif./Temecula Valley H.S.) placed eighth with a throw of 109'3".

Wilson also scored for the Brown and Gold in the triple jump, placing fourth with a leap of 36'1 ½".