The Wayne State men’s and women’s track and field teams traveled to Mankato, Minnesota on Jan. 25 and 26 competing in the Mark Schick Indoor Track and Field Open at the Myers Fieldhouse. The men finished third overall with a team score of 81, while the women placed sixth with an overall score of 45.

On the men’s side, the Wildcats had three first-place finishes. The three first place finishes included senior Robert Sullivan, freshman Mikhall Sands, and the distance medley relay team (Bryce Holcomb, Brock Hegarty, Kyle Lowe, and Nathan Pearson.)

Sullivan finished first overall in the heptathlon, scoring 5,153 points. Sullivan’s mark posted in the heptathlon was an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the event, ranking eighth in NCAA Division II. Sullivan is also a two-time NCAA indoor national qualifier.

“I am really pleased with the outcome of things,” Sullivan said. “It is important to be patient when competing in these events and to grab a ton of points, the multi is about statistics and points.”

The other NCAA provisional marks came from senior Cade Kalkowski and junior Dylan Kaup in the weight throw. Kaup finished with a top mark of 60’ 3 ¼”. Kalkowski placed second at 64’ 7 ¼”. Kalkowski is now ninth in NCAA Division II and Kaup is listed at 21st.

Sixth place finishers included Aaron English in the high jump clearing 6’ 2 ¼” and Noah Lilly in the heptathlon with 4,242 points. Holcomb finished second in the 600-meter dash with a time of 1:25.30. Hegarty finished second overall in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:39.11.

On the women’s side, the Wildcats placed sixth overall led by freshman Jordyn Pester with a first place finish in the 400-meter dash. Sophomore Jadin Wagner took second in the shot put with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark also contributing to WSC’s sixth place finish overall at the Mark Schuck Open.

“Now, it is a matter of being patient and letting all the hard work pay off,” junior Riana Noelle said. “All in all, I am just grateful to have such a great coach and an amazing support system. Big jumps coming soon.”

Freshman Mikayla Marvin matched her own school record in the pole vault placing third, clearing 10’ 8 ¾”. The 4×400 team, (Pester, Joan Jelimo, Marin Jetensky, and Molli Vasa) finished third in the event with a time of 4:05.03. Senior Morgan Shearer took fifth place in the pentathlon scoring 2,635 points. Noelle recorded 10th place finishes in both the long jump and the triple jump. Senior Tia Jones finished eighth in shot put with a throw of 42’ 8”.

Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams will be back in action this Friday, Feb. 8 in Seward, Nebraska for the Concordia Classic.