St. Cloud State Track & Field Looks Ahead to NSIC Outdoor Championships

Friday, May 10

Mankato, Minn.

10:00 A.M. CT (Friday) | 11:00 A.M. CT (Saturday)

St. Cloud State

NSIC Outdoor Championships

Paola Breña clears a bar at the Maverick Open #2 on May 4 in Mankato.

Photo by: Jacob Sanders

St. Cloud State Track & Field Looks Ahead to NSIC Outdoor Championships

5/9/2024 12:12:00 PM | Women's Track & Field

NSIC Outdoor Championship Central

Huskies compete in Mankato on Friday and Saturday

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – St. Cloud State Track & Field travels back to Mankato for the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Friday and Saturday. The 10,000 meters opens Friday's competition at 10 a.m., while field events start at 12:30 p.m. On Saturday, field events will begin at 11 a.m. followed by running events at 1:05 p.m. The meet will take place at the Mark Shuck Outdoor Track & Field Complex on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Meet Information
Schedule of Events
Heat Sheets

FOLLOW THE HUSKIES
Live results will be provided by Hero's Timing and the meet will be streamed live for free on the NSIC Network. Admission fees are as follows: $10 Adults (18 and older), $5 youth (ages 10-18). Anyone under the age of 10 will be free of charge. Links to each coverage option can be found on the St. Cloud State Track & Field Schedule Page.

TEAMS AT THE MEET
Augustana, Bemidji State, Concordia-St. Paul, Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, Minot State, MSU Moorhead, Northern State, Sioux Falls, Southwest Minnesota State, St. Cloud State, UMary, Wayne State, Winona State

HUSKIES IN THE MEET
100 meters (prelims – 3:00 p.m. Friday | finals – 2:35 p.m. Saturday) – Katie Lavato
200 meters (prelims – 5:00 p.m. Friday | finals – 3:20 p.m. Saturday) – Katie Lavato
800 meters (prelims – 3:30 p.m. Friday | finals – 2:45 p.m. Saturday) – Mariana Guerra-Reese, Audrey Rabitz
5,000 meters (3:35 p.m. Saturday) – Greta Freed, Cambrie Kowal
10,000 meters (10:00 a.m. Friday) – Greta Freed, Cambrie Kowal
400 hurdles (prelims – 4:20 p.m. Friday | finals – 3:00 p.m. Saturday) – Makaylin Christenson, Trinity Wallendal
3,000 steeplechase (12:50 p.m. Friday) – Paige Beason, Erica Conrad, Alena Donahue
4x100 relay (1:05 p.m. Saturday) – Jenna Marxhausen/Katie Lavato/Viola Okey-Ezealah/Myesha Thompson
4x400 relay (4:25 p.m. Saturday) – Katie Lavato/Makaylin Christenson/Audrey Rabitz/Mariana Guerra-Reese
High jump (3:30 p.m. Friday) – Paola Breña, Makaylin Christenson
Long jump (12:30 p.m. Friday) – Myesha Thompson
Triple jump (2:00 p.m. Saturday) – Elena Martinez-Rodriguez
Shot put (3:30 p.m. Friday) – Hannah Bruskiewicz
Discus throw (2:00 p.m. Saturday) – Alicia Jennissen
Javelin throw (11:00 a.m. Saturday) – Trinity Wallendal

*Note – listed times are estimates

LAST TIME OUT
St. Cloud State Track & Field tallied eight seven personal bests, seven top-five finishes and three season bests at the Maverick Open #2 on May 4 at the Mark Shuck Outdoor Track & Field Complex on the campus of Minnesota State University in Mankato. The Huskies finished third of five teams.

Freshman sprinter/hurdler Trinity Wallendal (Fond du Lac, Wis.) took home one of the Huskies' two second place finishes of the meet in the 400 hurdles (1:11.10), running a near five second personal best.

The second Husky to pick up a second-place finish was fifth-year middle distance runner Mariana Guerra-Reese (White Bear Lake, Minn.) in the 800 meters (2:21.82). Freshman middle distance runner Audrey Rabitz (Manitowoc, Wis.) finished fifth in 2:26.04. She has run a personal best in each of the last 800's she has run.

Freshman sprinter Viola Okey-Ezealah (Port-Harcourt, Nigeria) ran the sixth fastest qualifying time in the 100 meters prelims (13.03) before finishing fourth in the final in a time of 13.01. Junior jumper/hurdler/sprinter Shelby Romig (Ankeny, Iowa) ran to a new personal best time in the prelims (13.81).

Freshman sprinter Jenna Marxhausen (Two Harbors, Minn.) and freshman sprinter/jumper Myesha Thompson (Mount Horeb, Wis.) ran to personal best times in the 200. Marxhausen ran 26.00, cutting 0.95 seconds of her previous best, while Thompson's time of 26.72 was 0.59 faster than her previous fastest mark.

Freshman throwers Hannah Bruskiewicz (Rogers, Minn.) and Alicia Jennissen (Sauk Centre, Minn.) posted new personal best marks in the shot put and discus throw respectively. Bruskiewicz (12.26m / 40-2.75) improved upon her previous best mark by 0.10m (four inches) and Jennissen (35.96m / 118-0) crushed her old personal record by 3.83m (17-7).

Thompson and Romig each leaped to a new season best in the long jump, with marks of 5.46m (17-11) and 5.11m (16-9.25) respectively.

Graduate jumper Paola Breña (Queretero, Mexico) placed third in the high jump after clearing 1.60m (5-3).

PR SPOTLIGHT
Hannah Bruskiewicz (shot put) - 12.16m (39-10.75) --> 12.26m (40-2.75)
Alicia Jennissen (discus throw) - 32.13m (105-5) --> 35.96m (118-0)
Jenna Marxhausen (200 meters) - 26.95 --> 26.00
Audrey Rabitz (800 meters) - 2:26.99 --> 2:26.04
Shelby Romig (100 meters) - 13.83 --> 13.81
Myesha Thompson (200 meters) - 27.31 --> 26.72
Trinity Wallendal (400 hurdles) - 1:16.04 --> 1:11.10

NEW LEADER OF THE PACK
Gabrielle Brown continues her first season as SCSU's head Track & Field/Cross Country coach. A three-time All-American hurdler at Hamline, Brown joined St. Cloud State after three seasons as an assistant coach at Macalester. She is the first Black female head coach in the history of St. Cloud State Athletics.

PRESEASON POLLING
St. Cloud State Track & Field was selected to finish 14^th in the 2024 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Outdoor Preseason Coaches' Poll. SCSU is coming off a 14^th place finish at the NSIC Indoor Track & Field Championships. Last outdoor season, the Huskies finished 12^th at the conference meet.

"I am excited for this group of women to have both individual success and team success," said Brown, "After one indoor season with the team I look forward to refining efforts and techniques towards yielding a competitive and fun filled outdoor season."

OUTDOOR ATHLETES TO WATCH
Freshman sprinter Viola Okey-Ezealah (Lagos, Nigeria) was named as the Huskies' Track Athlete to Watch for the 2024 outdoor season. In her first collegiate indoor season, Okey-Ezealah competed in the 60m dash, the 200m dash and high jump individually and the 4x400m and distance medley relays. She ran personal bests in the 60m (8.23) and 200m (27.29) at the St. Thomas Invitational on January 12. She jumped 1.37m (4-6) in her first and only appearance in the high jump. At the NSIC Indoor Championships, she was on a pair of relays that finished 11th – 4x400m relay (4:11.57) and distance medley relay (13:47.15).

"Viola's first collegiate indoor season was one filled with learning and refining at a consistent cadence," said Brown, "Using this indoor season to experiment and learn, I am excited for her to out it all together bit by bit. We look forward to this outdoor season to be filled with positive momentum."

Freshman thrower Savannah Reinke (Malta Bend, Mo.) was recognized as the SCSU Field Athlete to Watch for the 2024 outdoor season. Reinke competed in the shot put and weight throw during her first collegiate indoor season. She posted her personal best in the weight throw (9.65m/31-8) at the Jack Johnson Classic on January 27. She recorded her personal record in the shot put (9.54m/31-3.75) on February 16 at the BSU Twilight.

"Savannah's efforts in the javelin are impressive and fun to watch," said Brown, "Preparation this indoor season for this event specifically has been the motivation. She is excited to string together all the nuggets she has gained for her first outdoor collegiate season in javelin."

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
SCSU Track & Field placed six on the NSIC Winter All-Academic list. Junior distance runner Greta Freed* (Rochester, Minn.), senior distance runner Erica Conrad* (Ashwaubenon, Wis.), junior jumper/hurdler/middle distance runner Shelby Romig (Ankeny, Iowa), senior sprinter Katie Lavato (Buffalo, Minn.), junior distance runner Cambrie Kowal (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.) and junior jumper/middle distance runner Makaylin Christenson (Prairie Farm, Wis.) were recognized on March 28 by the conference. To be eligible for the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence (noted with a *), a student-athlete must have a 3.60 cumulative GPA or higher, while NSIC All-Academic Team members must have a 3.20 cumulative GPA or higher. Additionally, the student-athlete must be a member of the varsity traveling team and in at least their second year of competition at their current institution (true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible athletic transfers are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at that institution.

Graduate student Paola Breña (Queretero, Mexico – Clinical Exercise Physiology) was bestowed with the prestigious Myles Brand All-Academic with Distinction award on Jan. 25. The honor, named for the late NCAA President Dr. Myles Brand, is given to senior NSIC student-athletes who have a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or higher, are exhausting their eligibility and are on track to graduate (student-athletes can only earn the award once). Each student-athlete is recognized by the NSIC with a certificate of achievement and a wristwatch.

THE SENIORS
Six athletes will compete in their senior campaign in 2023-24 as graduate student Paola Breña (Queretero, Mexico) is joined by fifth-years Mariana Guerra-Reese (White Bear Lake, Minn.) and Addi Scribner (Woodbury, Minn.) along with true seniors, Erica Conrad (Ashwaubenon, Wis.), Katie Lavato (Buffalo, Minn.) and Elena Martinez-Rodriguez (Madrid, Spain).

THE JUNIORS
Six juniors will compete for St. Cloud State this season, represented by Makaylin Christenson (Praire Farm, Wis.) Greta Freed (Rochester, Minn.), Kendall Gonzalez (Waukesham Wis.), Cambrie Kowal (Lake of the Ozarks, Mo.), Shelby Romig (Ankeny, Iowa) and Lauren Sertich (Cloquet, Minn.)

THE SOPHOMORES
Three athletes make up this year's sophomore class – Hannah Little (Grimes, Iowa), Jaileen Medina (Wheaton, Ill.) and Ava Wilmanns (Cedarburg, Wis.).

WELCOME TO THE PACK
There are 13 freshmen on the roster: Paige Beason (Ankeny, Iowa), Hannah Bruskiewicz (Rogers, Minn.), Alena Donahue (West Salem, Wis.), Kyla Hendricks (Bay Port, Wis.), Alicia Jennissen (Sauk Centre, Minn.), Jenna Marxhausen (Two Harbors, Minn.), Tegan Michalak (Arcadia, Wis.), Mady Muehr (Greendale, Wis.), Viola Okey-Ezealah (Lagos, Nigeria), Audrey Rabitz (Manitowoc, Wis.), Savannah Reinke (Carrollton, Mo.), Myesha Thompson (Mount Horeb, Wis.) and Trinity Wallendal (Fond du Lac, Wis.).

For all the latest on St. Cloud State Track & Field, stay tuned to SCSUHuskies.com and follow the team on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.