LA CROSSE, Wis. — They couldn’t quite eclipse that elusive NCAA Division III provisional qualifying mark, so
Teri Heinzen (Marshfield, Wis.) and
Josiah Ryks (Austin, Minn.) did the next-best thing — break Saint Mary’s University outdoor track and field records in their final event of the season.
Make that shatter school records.
Heinzen stopped the clock in 25.32 in the 200 at Thursday’s UW-La Crosse Last Chance Meet, breaking her own mark of 25.80, while Ryks also rewrote his own record in the 400, turning in a time of 49.97.
“Teri and Josiah ran great races — it’s just too bad they weren’t quite good enough to get onto the (provisional-qualifying) list,” said SMU coach Shawn McMahon. “But they gave it everything they had — to post the school’s fastest times in their last race of the season, that’s a could way to close things out.”
Andrew Brueggen (Holmen, Wis.) and
Sara Harstad (Chatfield, Minn.) weren’t able to improve their provisional-qualifying marks in the hammer throw Thursday and will not have to play the waiting game in hopes that those performances will be good enough to get them into the NCAA Division III Outdoor National Championships, which will take place May 27-29 in Cleveland, Ohio.
Complete UW-L Last Chance Meet Results