Success isn’t given, it is earned. On the track, the field and in the gym. With blood, sweat and the occasional tear.

 
Three Wildcats achieved this success by earning the top reward in the sport of track and field, the gold medal.

 
Sophomores Braxton Adams and Brady Metz and junior Andrea DeSimone won their respective events at the 2016 Sioux City Relays held at Morningside College.

 
DeSimone was the first to break the tape in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 40:22.28.

 
“It was really surprising,” DeSimone said. “I didn’t know going into the race that I would run well enough to win, so it was amazing to actually do that.”

 
Following behind DeSimone was Molly Kingsley coming in third with 41:35.09.

 
Also earning third-place finishes were Ellen Wulf in the long jump with a leap of 17’4 ¼” and Shelby Connett, who finished the 5,000-meter run in 20:09.39.

 
Metz led the field with his first place jump of 45’1 in the triple jump. He also placed fifth in the long jump with a mark of 21’9.
“It was great to come out of the relays with a win in the triple jump and a fifth-place finish in the long jump,” Metz said. “I need to clean some things up in practice this week and hopefully come out with some big jumps this weekend.”

 
Along with Metz in the field events, Senior Bryan Dunn recorded a second-place finish in the hammer throw with a toss of 178’5”.
Adams won the 100-meter dash with a fast time of 10.86.

 
“This was a good weekend by getting my first win of the outdoor season,” Adams said. “Just got to keep getting better day by day.”
Justin Brueggemann earned a third-place finish in the 10,000-meter run in 33:39.02.

 
“It was nice to pick up some wins and have several athletes place in the top five and get onto the podium,” head coach Marlon Brink said. “We hope to see some bigger improvements as we are going to start to taper our training the next week.”

 
The Wayne State track and field team competed Tuesday at the South Dakota Twilight meet in Vermillion. They will travel to the Doane College Relays in Crete on Friday and Saturday.

Men’s team results
Braxton Adams 1st in 100m dash (10.86), Brady Metz 1st in triple jump (45’1) and 5th in long jump (21’9), Bryan Dunn 2nd in hammer throw (178’5”), Justin Brueggemann 3rd in 10,000m run (33:39.02), WSC 4×100 relay 3rd (42.36), Josh Spenner 4th in pole vault (15’5”), Robert Sullivan 4th in high jump (6’4 ¾”), Nick Fly 4th in 1,500m run (4:01.30), Clay Kramper 6th in 400m dash (49.96), Jordan Zautke 6th in 100m dash (11.29), Corbin Lehn 7th in 10,000m run (34:54.32), WSC 4x200m relay 7th (1:35.55), Cortland Cassidy 8th in 10.000m run (35:25.13), Nate Lechtenberg 8th in 400 hurdles (57.40), Trenton Zink 9th in 400 hurdles (57.41).

Women’s team results
Andrea DeSimone 1st in 10,000m run (40:22.28), Molly Kingsley 3rd in 10,000m run (41:35.09), Ellen Wulf 3rd in long jump (17’4 ¼”), Shelby Connett 3rd in 5,000m run (20:09.39), Kelsey Dietrich 6th in 100m hurdles (15.64), and 10th in 400m hurdles (1:08.61), Kyndra Sturm 7th in hammer throw (160’7”), Mellissa Kroll 9th in 200m dash (26.49), Kes Burke 10th in hammer throw (149’4”).