Sara Wells outshone the competition again, leading the WSC women’s track team last weekend in the Sioux City Relays.

She won two events and placed second in another, while improving on her school record with one NCAA automatic qualifying mark and one NCAA provisional mark.

The WSC women controlled the throwing events, taking five of the top 11 positions in the hammer throw and two of the top three in the shot put and discus.

Wells’ performance is top notch this season. She won the shot put Saturday with a new school record of 53’ 9”, topping her previous best of 53’ 4 ½”. This toss now improves her NCAA Division II leading mark in the event.

Wells has led the nation in the shot put for the past two weeks.

Wells also captured first place in the discus with a top throw of 158’ 10”. Additionally, She placed second in the hammer with a season-best throw of 178’ 4”, which is also an NCAA provisional marking.

For her outstanding performances on the weekend, Wells was named the Women’s Athlete of the Meet at the Sioux City Relays.

“Conference is May 8-9, and my goal is to continue having the success I’m having. I want to be a back-to-back conference champion in the shot and disc, and place high in the hammer throw,” Wells said.

Sophomore Michaela Dendinger recorded an NCAA provisional qualifying mark for the first time this season, with a third place finish in the hammer throw at 172’ 2”. Junior Kyndra Sturm came in fifth (164’ 1”), and freshman Shandan Platt took seventh (160’ 1”).

Platt also collected a third place finish in the shot put, launching a mark of 44’2 ½”.

In the discus, freshman Kacie O’Connor posted a third place finish at 139’ 9”.

Other top performances for the Wildcat women included senior Megan Svitak, who tied for sixth in the high jump at 5’ ¼” and took tenth in the 100 meter hurdles (15.71). Andrea DeSimone came in seventh in the 10,000 meter run (41:48.06) and Rebecca Davenport finished ninth in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:07.32.

Junior Bryan Dunn recorded his only first place finish on the season to lead the Wayne State men’s track and field team at the Sioux City Relays.

Dunn collected his first place finish in the hammer throw with a toss of 181’ 8”.
“It was a good feeling bringing home first this last weekend,” Dunn said. “I’ve been improving week by week, and hopefully I continue to improve all the way up until and through conference.”

Senior Jared Balady also assisted Dunn in leading the ‘Cats, capturing a second place finish in the 400 meter hurdles in 55.08 seconds.

Braxton Adams brought home third place in the 100 meter dash finals in 10.85 seconds. Freshman Tanner Konz picked up a fourth place finish in the long jump at 20’ 5 ¼”.

Junior Justin Brueggemann was sixth in the 10,000 meter run at 33:12.84 and freshman Nate Lechtenberg was tenth in the 110 meter high hurdles in 16.22 seconds.

The Wayne State 4 x 400 meter relay team of Derek Lahm, William Ernst, Balady and Zach Thomsen came in fourth place with a time of 3:21.18.

Wayne State sent some of its athletes to the Mount Marty Twilight Meet in Yankton on Tuesday, and the entire team will compete at either the Grand View Invite or Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday.

The Drake Relays is an invitation-only meet where athletes get chosen based on previous performances this season.

Wayne State women will be sending Wells and Dendinger, who will be competing in both the shot put and disc. The men’s team will be sending a sprints medley relay of Adams (200 meter dash), Ernst (200 meter dash), Balady (400 meter dash) and Thomsen (800 meter dash).

Also, the NSIC heptathlon (seven events) will be held Sunday/Monday in Aberdeen.
Svitak and Ellen Wulf will be the only two Wildcat women competing there. Lahm and Josh Spenner will compete the same day as the women but in the decathlon (10 events).