The University of Northern Iowa men’s and women’s track and field teams will kick off the 2011 outdoor season with a triangular meet at Wichita State University on Sat., Apr. 2. |The University of Northern Iowa men’s and women’s track and field teams will kick off the 2011 outdoor season with a triangular meet at Wichita State University on Sat., Apr. 2. The Panthers will face off with the Shockers and the University of Nebraska in a scored meet, with field events set to begin at 10 a.m. Running events will get underway at 12:30 p.m.
OUT OF THE BLOCKS
Triangular Preview
The triangular meet on Saturday will be scored using the international scoring system of 7-5-4-3-2-1, with a maximum of two scorers per school per event. Relays will score 7-5-4. Wichita State and Nebraska each won men’s team titles at their respective conference outdoor championships in 2010, and each of their women’s teams earned runner-up finishes.
Back For More
UNI returns eight student-athletes who competed at the 2010 NCAA West Preliminary Rounds in Austin, Texas. Under a new format introduced by the NCAA for the 2010 season, the East and West Preliminary Rounds replaced the NCAA Regional meets, serving as the final qualification for the NCAA Outdoor National Championships. That format will continue in 2011.
On the men’s side, Sam Kranz (pole vault), Daniel Gooris (pole vault), Jordan Williams (shot put, discus) and Allen Weeks (discus) all return with experience from the Preliminary Rounds. The women’s squad also boasts four returning qualifiers in Holli Hosch (800m, 4×400), Ellen Kindelsperger (4×400), Michaela Brungardt (4×400) and Sam Cameron (4×400).
Hosch (800m) and Olimpia Nowak (heptathlon) both qualified for the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore.
2010 Missouri Valley Conference Recap
The UNI men finished third at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships in 2010, scoring 123 points. The Panther women placed fifth with 75 points. Wichita State captured the men’s team title, while Southern Illinois took the women’s championship. UNI returns two individual champions this season in Daniel Gooris (decathlon) and Holli Hosch (800m).
2010 NCAA Championships Recap
Olimpia Nowak was the Panthers’ highest finisher on the national scene, taking 11th place in the heptathlon at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore., after entering competition with the 23rd best score. Nowak posted a career-best point total of 5,415 points behind the strength of personal-best performances in the javelin and 800m. Holli Hosch placed 20th in the 800m to cap a record-breaking season, bowing out in the semifinals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Hosch broke the UNI school record in the 800m twice last season, setting the new mark at 2:05.47.
Record Breakers
With Olimpia Nowak’s 60m hurdles record on Feb. 18, the UNI women concluded a streak that saw them break four school records in a span of 34 days. Senior Holli Hosch broke the 600m and 800m records twice apiece, and junior Jenna Wexter set a new top mark in the pole vault at 12-09 in the Jack Jennett Invitational on Jan. 29.
Five Indoor MVC Titles
UNI claimed five Missouri Valley Conference titles at the MVC Indoor Championships in the UNI-Dome on Feb. 26-27. The Panther women claimed the 4x400m relay crown with the team of Michaela Brungardt, Holli Hosch, Ellen Kindelsperger and Sam Cameron, along with the 800m title won by Hosch. The UNI men got victories from Carlos Anderson (60m), Sam Kranz (pole vault), and Justin Romero (shot put).
