Bloomington, Ill., Feb. 4, 2017 – The Washington University in St. Louis men's and women's track and field program topped the competition at the Keck Invitational hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday.
The men totaled 106 points in victory over Rose-Hulman (67), Loras (61), Monmouth (Ill.) (55) and Carthage (42). The women more than doubled the runner-ups point total with 119 points followed by St. Norbert (59), Illinois Wesleyan (56), Loras (56) and Carthage (38.5).
The women were led by senior Daisy Ogede. She finished the meet with two individual titles in the 60m (7.78) and 200m dash (25.46) while joining freshman Nicky Althoff, senior Kelli Hancock and senior Ashley Knudson to victory in the 4x400m relay (3:55.19).
Ogede's times rank within the NCAA Division III top-5 times in the country this season. Her 200m ranks fourth and 60m ranks fifth. Ogede, Althoff, Hancock and Knudson's 3:55.19 time in the 4x400m relay is third in the country as the Bears hold three of the top four times this year.
Senior Molly Kuhs added another title for the Bears women in the one-mile run (5:11.43). Altogether the women totaled 19 top-five finishes including runner-up statuses by sophomore Heidi Nassos in the pole vault (3.55m) and triple jump (11.06m) as well as junior Annalise Wagner in the 800m (2:15.02). Wagner's time ranks sixth in Division III.
The men finished with 18 top-five finishes as junior Elvir Sarajlic and sophomore Peter Johnsrud titled in their events. Sarajlic won the 3,000m run with a time of 8:37.73 and Johnsrud led the way in the 5,000m run with a time of 15:08.49.
Sarajlic was the first Bear to cross the finish line during his event but far from the last as WashU posted the top four times in the 3,000m. Freshman Marco Quaroni (8:53.23), Dillon Williams (8:55.50) and Paul d'Ambrosio (8:57.63) followed Sarajlic's lead.
Also placing second for the Bears were freshman Nick Matteucci in the 800m (1:57.99), sophomore Chris Blagg in the one-mile run (4:23.62) and senior Everett Kleven in pole vault (4.80m). Kleven's height of 4.80m ranks 12th in Division III.
The Bears will travel to Indiana next weekend for two meets. First WashU will participate in the Hoosier Hills Invite on Friday, Feb. 10 starting at 3 p.m. (ET) before competing in the Indianapolis Team Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 11. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
