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For Immediate Release
March 11, 2005
DMR WINS NATIONAL TITLE, KEEPS MEN IN HUNT
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Nebraska Wesleyan’s
men limped into day one of the NCAA Division III Indoor Track &
Field Championships, but they were feeling no pain amidst the celebration
after winning the distance medley relay in Friday’s final
event.
Ironically, it was a series of injuries which made
NWU’s accomplishments on Friday seem that much more improbable
and heroic.
Jed Droge |
It all began with long jumper Jed Droge (So., Pawnee
City, Neb., Pawnee City High School), who hadn’t jumped in
three weeks due to a groin injury and was competing for the first
time on a national stage. Droge struggled during warm-ups, but managed
to hit the board on all six of his attempts and finished sixth with
a mark of 23 feet, 1 3/4 inches to earn All-America status and score
three points.
“It was a gutsy effort,” head coach
Dr. Ted Bulling said of Droge’s performance.
Next up was Ryan Tietjen (Sr., DeWitt, Neb., Tri
County High School) in the weight throw. Tietjen’s back had
been bothering him this week, but it didn’t stop him from
throwing a career-best 57’11 1/4 and scoring another two points
for the Prairie Wolves.
Then, it was time for the sprint prelims. Bret Blake
(Sr., Lincoln, Neb., Northeast High School), who had been struggling
of late with a recurring hamstring problem, ran the best time in
Div. III this season in qualifying first for the finals of the 55
(6.38). Blake, the two-time defending national champ in the event,
is seeking a three-peat.
Blake later teamed with Jeff Aldrich (Jr., Seward,
Neb., Seward High School), Ben Thayer (Jr., Sidney, Neb., Sidney
High School) and Chris Wolf (Fr., Ceresco, Neb., Raymond Central
High School) on the men’s 4x400-meter relay team, which finished
second in its heat and qualified for the finals with a time of 3:19.35.
Thayer was a late substitute for Jason Peters (Fr.,
Lincoln, Neb., Southwest High School), who was diagnosed with a
stress fracture in one of his feet earlier in the week. And since
Thayer ran the 4x400 prelim, Bulling needed to shuffle his lineup
in the distance medley. Vince Sickler (So., Kearney, Neb., Kearney
High School) led off as he had on the team that broke the school
record last week, but Evan Knight (Fr., Ogallala, Neb., Ogallala
High School) moved up to replace Thayer on the 400 leg. Blake Henning
(Jr., Beatrice, Neb., Beatrice High School) replaced Knight on the
800 leg, followed by Aaron Dye (Jr., Hebron, Neb., Thayer Central
High School) who qualified for nationals in the mile, but instead
chose concentrate his energies on anchoring the DMR.
“The result was not the fastest time of the
year, but it was enough,” Bulling said.
Henning put the Prairie Wolves in the lead during
his 800, and after Dye initially relinquished
the lead in his leg, he came back to recapture the top spot with
about 150 yards to go and won in 10:06.42.
Blake Henning
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“I’m so proud of the guys, and especially
Ben, who knew he was sacrificing a chance to win the national title
with the DMR, but his love of the team helped us win it and get
the 4x400 qualified for the finals,” Bulling said.
With 15 points, the Prairie Wolves are second in
the men’s team standings, just two points behind the University
of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, heading into the meet’s second and final
day. NWU will compete in five of the remaining nine events, and
has a nine-point lead on the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse,
which Bulling said is still the team to beat.
“The day couldn’t have gone any better
for us,” Bulling said. “We’re in the hunt.”
On Saturday, Tietjen will compete in the shot put,
followed by Derek Zulkoski (So., Columbus, Neb., Columbus High School)
in the pole vault and Tyler Gingery (Sr., Holmesville, Neb., Lewiston
High School) in the triple jump.
Amy Vanderkolk |
All three women who competed for Nebraska Wesleyan
on Friday turned in impressive performances, but only Amy Vanderkolk
(Jr., Malcolm, Neb., Malcolm High School) advanced to the finals.
Vanderkolk’s time of 8.24 tied for the second fastest in the
55-meter hurdles.
“Amy ran a nice race and will be right in
the mix tomorrow,” Bulling said.
Holly Andrews (Fr., Seward, Neb., Seward High School)
and Katie Dobesh (Fr., Kearney, Neb., Kearney Catholic High School),
both competing in their first national meet, ran 8.46 and 7.26 in
the 55 hurdles and 55 dash, respectively. Dobesh’s time broke
the team record of 7.27 previously shared by Marla Hess (1983),
Amanda Jurgenson (1998) and Amy Fries (2003).
For NCAA Div. III Championship results,
click
here.
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