Track and field finishes second at Beaver Invite

Saturday, January 25

Bemidji, MN

St. Cloud State

BSU Invite

Photo by: Kelsey Whaley

1/26/2020 1:03:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

BEMIDJI, MINN. – The St. Cloud State University women's track and field team started the second half of the 2019-20 season on the right foot. In their first meet of 2020, the Huskies finished in second place as a team at the Beaver Invite hosted by Bemidji State University. St. Cloud State earned 164 points as a team at the meet, good enough for a second place finish behind the host.

The Huskies strong performances starting in the distance medley relay, as the team of Isabella Bismarck), Autum Shurbert-Hetzel (Stevens Point, Wis. / Stevens Point Area), Clara Welhouse (Green Bay, Wis. / Southwest) and Kassye Todd (Elmwood, Wis. / Elmwood-Plum City) raced to a first place finish with a time of 13:26.90. In fact, St. Cloud State saw a lot of success on the track, as several individuals recorded top-8 performances to score for the Huskies. In the 400 meter dash, Bridget Brown (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River), Leighten Fischer (Iola, Wis. / Iola-Scandanavia) and Kaylee Gessay (Waukesha, Wis. / South) all finished in the top-8 for St. Cloud State. Brown led the way with a third place finish and a time of 1:01.86, while Fischer and Gessay finished in fourth and sixth respectively with times of 1:01.99 and 1:03.18.

The Huskies other relay team was equally as successful as the distance medley team as they also finished in first in the 4x400. The team of Brown, Fischer, Mikayla Rice (Racine, Wis. / Horlick) and Karla Encarnacion (Caguas, Puerto Rico / American Military Academy) won the event thanks to their time of 4:07.53.

The Huskies saw four sprinters on the podium in the 60 meter hurdles, as Rice, Encarnacion, Victoria Czech (Chippewa Falls, Wis. / Chippewa Falls) and Gracie Elsenpeter (Maple Lake, Minn. / Maple Lake) all finished in the top-8. Rice opened her collegiate career with a second place finish in the event thanks to her time of 9.37, while Encarnacion was right behind in third with a time of 9.77. Czech came in sixth place thanks to her time of 9.84 while Elsenpeter finished in seventh.

Emma Baynes (Mankato, Minn. / East) opened her second semester with a second place finish in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.76 in the finals after running 7.72 in prelims, which was the fastest time in the event. Emelia Burris (Woodale, Ill. / Fenton) also competed in the prelims of the race, recording the fourth fastest time at 7.90, but did not participate in finals. Cassidy Zuleger (Mosinee, Wis. / Mosinee) finished just outside the top-8, finishing in ninth place in prelims with a time of 8.46.

St. Cloud State found more success in the distance events, as Shurbert-Hetzel, Welhouse and Todd went 1-2-3 in the 1000 meter run. Shurbert-Hetzel won the race with a time of 3:16.05 with Welhouse right on her heals with a time of 3:18.00. Todd finished in third with a time of 3:23.66, while Kraft also recorded a top-8 finish, coming in sixth place with a time of 3:31.20.

In the field events, the Huskies scored in women's high jump, pole vault, long jump, triple jump, shot put and weight throw, helping booth their overall team score. Long jump was potentially St. Cloud State found a lot of success in long jump, as Burris took home top honors thanks to her jump of 5.52 meters. Teammate Abby Jungwirth (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) finished in second place with her jump of 5.32 meters, helping the Huskies claim the 1-2 spots in the events. Then, in triple jump, Parker Buske (Madison, Wis. / West), Jungwirth and Maya Taylor (Oswego, Ill. / East) finished in first-second-and third, all with jumps over 11 meters. Buske won the event behind a jump of 11.33 meters, while Jungwirth and Taylor finished second and third with jumps of 11.26 and 11.01 meters.

Claire Shae (Excelsior, Minn. / Chanhassen) scored for St. Cloud State in high jump, finishing in fifth place with a 1.50 jump. Emma Gauert (New Ulm, Minn. / New Ulm) finished fourth in pole vault at 2.99 meters, and three Huskies finished top-8 in shot put. Annie Falardeau (Grand Rapids, MInn. / Grand Rapids) finished in third place behind her final throw of 12.74 meters, while Dominique Buechel (Chilton, Wis. / Chilton) and Dacoda Zimmerman (Racine, Wis. / Horlick) finished in fifth and sixth with throws of 12.47 and 12.22 meters respectively.

Zimmerman and Falardeau both placed in weight throw as well as shot put. Zimmerman finished in fifth place behind her throw of 13.50 meters while Falardeau came in eighth with a throw of 12.24 meters.

Thanks to these and several other performances, St. Cloud State finished in second place as a team with 164 total points. The Huskies will be back in action on Friday, January 31 as the team competes in two separate weekend meets: the Mark Schuck multi and open at Minnesota State and the Jack Johnson Classic, hosted by the University of Minnesota.