Whitewater, Wis., Feb. 10, 2018 – The Washington University in St. Louis track & field program competed Saturday during University of Wisconsin-Whitewater's Midwest Elite Invitational among several of Division III's top-25 ranked programs. The No. 21-ranked WashU women placed third while the men captured fourth out of the eight team field.
The WashU women totaled 93.5 points to place third behind University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (158) and No. 11-ranked Chicago (99.5). The Bears totaled three first place finishes while finishing ahead of No. 22-ranked UW-Oshkosh (82), UW-Whitewater (60), No. 19-ranked UW-Stevens Point (53), St. Norbert (20) and Benedictine (13).
The WashU men placed fourth with 84 points. No. 2 UW-La Crosse scored 140 points for first followed by No. 9 UW-Whitewater (97.5), No. 4 UW-Oshkosh (84.5), WashU, No. 14 UW-Steven Point (77), No. 5 Benedictine (59), Chicago (39) and St. Norbert (4).
WOMEN
Junior Heidi Nassos finished above the competition with a personal-best first place indoor height of 3.81m. Her clearance improved upon her top-10 mark of 3.75m achieved earlier this season and she now ranks seventh in Division III.
Senior mid-distance runner Annalise Wagner had a strong showing for the Bears leading the pack in the 800m run with a winning time of 2:13.36. Finishing second in the race was freshman Sophie Grigaux (2:18.07) while sophomore Sara Mesiano (2:20.26) took fifth place as WashU totaled three finishes to earn points.
Wagner's 800m time of 2:13.36 is a season-best and ranks fifth in DIII. She also helped the women's 4x400m relay to a second place finish combining efforts with Grigaux, sophomore Nicky Althoff and Mesiano (3:59.43) for the eighth best time in DIII on the year after conversion based on the track size (3:56.30).
Sophomore Paige Lawler placed first in the 5,000m run while nearly bettering the runner-ups time by 10 seconds. She finished the course in 17:02.00 and following the conversion for track size ranks third (16:54.24).
Sophomore Sophie Watterson (10:11.28) and junior Abby Martin (10:20.04) placed second and third respectively in the 3,000m. Meanwhile the Bears also posted the seventh through 11th best times in the event featuring 15 competitors.
MEN
Sophomore Nick Matteucci posted the top time in the one mile run crossing the finish line in 4:14.58 which narrowly missed the top-25 DIII times on the season on its own but following the conversion (4:11.38) his time ranks 15th. Also scoring in the one mile run for the Bears were graduate Ethan Brodeur (4:19.18) in third and junior Chris Blagg (4:25.66) in seventh.
Junior Jason Singer placed second overall in the 400m (50.24) while also running the initial leg in the Bears second place 4x400m relay (3:22.87). Also running towards a second place finish during the 1,600m relay were junior Eddie Wintergalen, freshman John Harry Wagner and sophomore Jon Fleming.
Finishing back-to-back in third and fourth place were junior Peter Johnsrud (15:01.82) and sophomore Marco Quaroni (15:12.31) in the 5,000m; and sophomores Jack Sebok (8:49.43) and Noah Trimark (8:50.31) in the 3,000m.
Top Finishes
Men
Weight Throw – 12. Quin Preston – 14.73m
Shot Put – 18. Quin Preston – 12.58m
High Jump – 5. Collis McKenzie – 1.97m
Pole Vault – 11. Brandon Hutchison and Jacob Rother – 4.43m
Long Jump – 7. Ezugo Onejeme – 6.57m
Triple Jump – 6. Ezugo Onejeme – 13.77m
60m – Prelims 8. Andrew Whitaker – 7.33
60m Hurdles – 4. Andrew Whitaker – 8.54
400m – 2. Jason Singer – 50.24
5,000m – 3. Peter Johnsrud – 15:01.82
One mile – 1. Nick Matteucci – 4:14.58
800m – 8. John Harry Wagner – 1:57.34
200m – 13. Greigory Dimailig – 23.23
3,000m – 3. Jack Sebok – 8:49.43
4x400m Relay – 2. Jason Singer, Eddie Wintergalen, John Harry Wagner, Jon Fleming – 3:22.87
Women
Weight Throw – 20. Randal Walker – 11.57m
Shot Put – 14. Randal Walker – 10.76m
High Jump – 8. Anna Cossio – 1.52m
Pole Vault – 1. Heidi Nassos – 3.81m
Long Jump – 14. Rachel Novick – 4.99m
Triple Jump – 7. Elise Chao – 11.32m
60m – Prelims 3. Eka Jose – 8.31
60m Hurdles – 4. Jay Pittman – 9.32
400m – 8. Nicky Althoff – 1:00.63
5,000m – 1. Paige Lawler – 17:02.00
One Mile – N/A
800m – 1. Annalise Wagner – 2:13.36
200m – 8. Jay Pittman – 26.72
3,000m – 2. Sophie Watterson – 10:11.28
4x400m Relay – 2. Sophie Grigaux, Nicky Althoff, Sara Mesiano, Annalise Wagner – 3:59.43
The Bears travel to Jacksonville, Ill. on Friday, Feb. 16 for its next competition at the Illinois College Hilltop Invite. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
