MEN'S RESULTS | WOMEN'S RESULTS
Kenosha, Wis. – With the Great Lakes Valley Conference Indoor Championships being held at UW-Parkside this year, Lewis University head track and field coach Dana Schwarting figured that it would be a good idea for his Flyers to get acclimated to the Frank Petretti Fieldhouse at the UW-Parkside Open on Friday (Jan. 22) night.
Acclimated they did, as the Flyers, led by Ashley Butler (Pontiac, Ill./Pontiac), Samantha Linck (Kohler, Wis./Kohler) and Scott Barnas (Oak Lawn, Ill./St. Laurence/Moraine Valley C.C.), set three NCAA Provisional marks and won a total of 16 events to blow by the rest of the field.
“It was a pretty good meet for us,” Schwarting said. “We did a good job of competing hard and there was a lot of improvement from last week, which is always a positive sign.
For the third consecutive meet, Barnas set a NCAA provisional mark with a second-place heave of 55’1 ½” feet in the shot put.
Lewis freshman Kyle Fitzgerald (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield South) captured the pole vault title with a mark of 13’6 ¼”, while senior hurdler James Knaperek (Hometown, Ill./St. Laurence) won the 55-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 7.77 seconds.
Junior Chris Leibrand (Parkville, Mo./Park South) tied for first-place in the 200-meter run with a time of 22.39 and would later win the 400-meter run (50.40). Senior Donnie Lesnick (Channahon, Ill./Minooka) finished second in the 400-meter run (51.47).
Lewis’ 4x400 relay team of Pat Reaney (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central), Scott Tanis (Yorkville, Ill./Yorkville), Aaron Jett (Chicago, Ill./Thornridge/Embry-Riddle) and Austin Bailey (Cave Creek, Ariz./Cactus Shadows) took home the title with a time of 3:30.74.
Tanis would later win the 1,000-meter run with a first-place finish of 2:34.52.
In the 600-meter run, freshman Alex Gasick (Woodridge, Ill./Benet Academy) was victorious with a time of 1:25.56.
On the women’s side, Butler captured a NCAA provisional and a first-place finish of 18’2 ½” in the long jump, while teammate Christine Kustra (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) finished second with a jump of 17’2 ¾”. Kustra also won the 55-meter hurdles (8.75).
Butler also won the 55-meter dash (7.44), edging teammate Kayla Murphy (Franklin Grove, Ill./Ashton Franklin Center) who had a runner-up finish of 7.56. Murphy would later win the 200-meter dash (26.32), edging Butler’s second-place finish of 26.7, and placed second in the pole vault with a mark of 10’0”.
Linck earned a NCAA Provisional mark in the high jump with a second-place jump of 5’5 ¾”, while junior Kelsey Boland (Brimfield, Ill./Elmwood) won the triple jump with a leap of 35’ ¼”.
Junior Maggie Boban (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) took home the 400-meter dash (1:03.69), while teammate Molly Szilard (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way East) finished in second with a time of 1:04.41.
Lewis’ 4x400 relay of Michelle Ruff (Palatine, Ill./Fremd), Julie Jarrett (Mahomet, Ill./Mahomet-Seymour), Kathryn Hague (Chicago, Ill./Mt. Assisi) and Boban finished first with a time of 4:14.30. Hague was victorious in the 1,000-meter run (2:59.91).
Freshman thrower Emily Keene (Hebron, Ind./Boone Grove) placed second in the weight throw with a toss of 42’ ¾”, while junior Danielle Thompson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Neuqua Valley) was a runner-up in the 800-meter run (2:31.90).