Werner leads Men's Track to runner-up finish at NAC Outdoor Championships; Women take sixth
| Published: 05/06/2013 |
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MILWAUKEE — Jordan Werner was named the 2013 Northern Athletic Conference Outdoor Track Championships’ Athlete of the Meet, winning two individual events and helping his 4×400 relay team win a third as MSOE Men’s Track finished second out of nine teams Saturday at Wisconsin Lutheran College’s Raabe Stadium.
Werner (Sr./Lombard, Ill./EE) won both the 100 and 200-meter conference titles for the third time en route to claiming the meet’s top individual honor. His 100-meter time of 10.79 seconds was .12 seconds faster than Antwon James of Concordia. In the 200, Werner’s time of 21.91 did not better his own conference record of 21.64, set as a freshman in 2010, but was good enough to top James by .25 seconds on this day.
Werner also ran the first leg of the 4×400, which included Dan Franke (So./Warrenville, Ill./BE), Matt Waech (Jr./West Bend, Wis./IE) and Joe Buichl (Fr./Cudahy, Wis./SE). The team finished in three minutes, 22.6 seconds, beating Edgewood by .41 seconds. Werner, Waech and Buichl were also joined by Cody Johnson (So./Woodstock, Ill./CE) in the 4×100 relay, taking second to Aurora.
In all, Werner helped contribute 38 points to MSOE’s meet total of 149.5, earning 10 for each first-place finish and eight for the second-place run. The team mark fell well short of Benedictine’s 172.5 title-winning total, but was better than Aurora’s 144-point third-place finish and Concordia’s fourth-place score of 118.
Waech was the only other MSOE athlete to win an event at the meet, capturing the conference crown for the men’s pole vault with a jump of 4.27 meters. Waech is the conference record-holder in the event with a mark of 4.43 meters, set in 2012.
Brad Lorr (Fr./Woodstock, Ill./ME) won two of the three throw events in the decathlon on his way to a second-place finish in the 10-event competition. Waech took third in the 400-meter dash, joining Buichl in the 110-meter hurdles, Steve Grousnick (Jr./Niles, Ill./MIS) in the 1500-meter run, Trevor Kocziczkowski (Jr./Stevens Point, Wis./AE-CM) in the 10,000-meter run and Brian Main (Sr./Lamar, Mo./ME) in the high jump with third-place finishes.
The women’s team competed as well, placing sixth out of nine teams. Amanda Heller (Sr./New Holstein, Wis./Envrionmental Engineering) took third in the 1500-meter run, while Kate Herrmann (Sr./Sycamore, Ill./BE) captured third in the 3000-meter steeplechase.
Werner, meanwhile, now has his eyes on an even bigger goal: Qualifying for the 2013 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championship. He will lead the Raiders into the National Qualifyer, which will begin Friday at North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville, Ill.
When measured against listed the most recent national Division III qualifying times posted at the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association website, Werner’s 100-meter conference championship time would tie him for 21st-best in the nation, while his 200-meter mark would put him in a tie for 20th. However, many of the individuals both ahead of and behind Werner in that listing, last updated April 30, likely lowered their best times this past weekend, making it difficult at present to gauge Werner’s relative position. Twenty men ran in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash at last year’s NCAA meet. Qualification specifications for this year have not yet been formally set.
The NCAA Championship will take place May 23-25 at Roger Harring Stadium in La Crosse, Wis. The venue is part of the the Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
