Wayne State’s Antoine Bardou broke his own school record on Saturday at the Husker Invite in Lincoln.
 
Bardou turned in a time of 4:08.27 to finish third overall in the mile at a very competitive meet. Division I schools from across the country were invited as well as some of the top performers in the area to fill out the meet.
 
“I think I can win conference,” Bardou said. “In a championship race, all that matters is running to win, and that’s what I’m good at. If the pace is fast or slow, I have the confidence in my kick at the end.”
 
Bardou’s time is good enough for a provisional qualifying mark for nationals. He is currently ranked 11th in the nation and second in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
“Antoine has been beating expectations all year,” Head Coach Marlon Brink said.
 
Michaela Dendinger, Derek Lahm, Brady Metz and Braxton Adams were the other WSC athletes who competed at the Husker Invite.
 
Dendinger was fourth in the weight throw (18.37m) and sixth in the shot put (14.76m), Lahm was fourteenth in the long jump (6.86m) and Adams was twenty-fourtth in the 60-meter (7.03). Metz did not place in the triple jump.
 
The rest of the WSC track team competed at the Dakota Realty Meet in Vermillion on Saturday.
 
Clay Kramper and Josh Spenner were the top finishers on the men’s side. Kramper was fourth in 200-meter (22.59) and Spenner was fourth in the pole vault (4.45m).
 
Adams added a fifth place finish (7.04) to his performance in Lincoln. Nick Fly was sixth in the 800-meter (2:02.01), Matt Nemec was sixth in the weight throw (16.40m), Brandon Marker was seventh in the 400-meter (52.82), Nathan Pearson was seventh in the 800-meter (2:02.95), and Cade Kalkowski was eighth in the weight throw (15.98).
 
“We had a few good things happen on the men’s side,” Brink said. “The throwers are making steady progress and Clay is getting back to where he should be.”
 
On the women’s side, Mary Alderson was third in the 600-meter (1:41.52), Melissa Kroll was fifth in the 400-meter (1:00.45), Tessa Ives was sixth in weight throw (15.05m), Tia Jones was eighth in weight throw (14.50m), Shelby Poell was fifth in the long jump (4.93m) and Shelby Roth was sixth in high jump (1.55m).
 
“For the women, Mary and Melissa did well in the running events,” Brink said. “The throwers did well all-around.”
 
WSC will split up again next weekend, as most of the team heads to Brookings for the South Dakota State Classic, jumpers will be heading to Seward for the Concordia Invite and multis will be competing in the NSIC Multi Championships in Mankato.