Vikings Continue Great Start to 2017 Season

 
MANKATO, Minn. – The Bethany Lutheran men's and women's track and field teams had another busy yet successful weekend of events. The Vikings competed in the MSU Open on Friday night followed by the UW-River Falls Winter Classic on Saturday.
 
FRIDAY NIGHT: MSU OPEN
The athletes representing BLC track and field competed very well, in front of a huge crowd at Myers Field House on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato. Junior Kari Marzinske competed in the pentathlon. A pentathlon is a five event competition comprised of the 60m hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, and 800m run. After the 800m, Marzinske found herself with a new school record by nearly 100 points. Head Coach Michael Dunn commented on the seniors performance, "Kari has so much potential in the multi, especially after a day like today."
 
The other events the Vikings participated in were the men's and women's distance medley relays (a race comprised of the 1200m, 400m, 800m, and 1600m).  Stefan Prince had the best leg of the men's relay with a 2:05 time in the 800m, which is second best in school history.
 
The women's relay team had a solid night as well. Led by Kirsten Elyea, the team scorched the track with an 11 second school record and final time of 13:10. 
 
"All four athletes ran well tonight and it was fun to see them in the middle of the division II field. They rubbed shoulders with some great competition," commented Dunn.
 
SATURDAY AFTERNOON: UW-RIVER FALLS WINTER CLASSIC
It was a meet full of record breaking performances on Saturday at UW-River Falls. Stefan Prince continues to burn up the track as he had a huge day in both the 800m and the 200m. The sophomore ran a personal best 2:03:93, which is second on the Indoor Top Ten list at BLC, missing the school record by less than one second. Prince then dropped down to the 200m and ran a lifetime best 23.82. Dunn said, "Stefan continues to exceed our expectations and is showing us that he is ready to perform at the highest level on this team this season."
 
Freshman Megan Rutt started her day off in the high jump. Similar to her last meet success, Rutt won the event, jumping 5'2.5". That distance ranks second on the Top Ten List at BLC. Later in the afternoon, Rutt went on to finish her day in the 55m hurdle finals, finishing with a school record time of 9.12. "Coming off a few weeks of illness and with as little as we have been able to work on the past few weeks, Megan showed resilience in her dominant performance today," stated Dunn.
 
Freshman Brianna Soutthivong ran her first 800m in her collegiate career, putting herself fifth on the top 10 list (2:35.35). Finishing her day, she ran the fastest leg of the women's 4x400m relay. Soutthivong ran a 64.3 and the team of Hildebrant, Lieske, and Marzinske shattered the school record by seven seconds (4:21.44). The relay team also won the race. "I can't speak on how great it was to see the efforts of all four of those ladies. They truly deserve the results."
 
Senior Lindsey Stewart made finals in both the shot put and weight throw during the day's events. In the weight throw, Stewart broke the school record twice on her first two throws. In the shot put, she threw the sixth best in school history with a throw of 8.99m. Assistant Coach Andrew Ferguson stated, "Lindsey has put in a lot of effort on honoring her form and it paid off today."
 
Gabby Baker competed in the shot put today as well and threw a huge school record of 10.10m. "Gabby put together one piece of the puzzle today that will continue to come together through her first year at Bethany," stated Ferguson.
 
Head Coach Michael Dunn stated his following the meet, "Overall, it was another great meet for our athletes to continue to develop. We look forward to our training this week. I am really proud of the effort and passion from the entire roster today."
 
 
UP NEXT:
On Saturday, February 4^th the Vikings will travel to Duluth, Minn. to participate in the St. Scholastica Lake Superior Challenge. Events will begin at 11 a.m.

To stay current with Vikings athletics this season, continue to visit www.blcvikings.com and follow @BLCvikings on Twitter.  
MEDIA: If you need further information, please feel free to contact Lucas Herd at 507-344-7856 or email lucas.herd@blc.edu.