It was a day of big marks for the Wayne State track and field teams Friday at the Alex Francis Fort Hays State Track Classic in Hays, Kan.
On the women’s side, senior thrower Michaela Dendinger posted two NCAA automatic qualifying marks and one NCAA provisional mark to lead the Wildcats. She took first in the shot put with an NCAA automatic-qualifying mark of 51 feet, 11 3/4 inches, and took second in the hammer throw at 205-10, another NCAA mark. Both marks better her advantage as the top marks in NCAA Div. II this season.
Dendinger also won the discus, taking first with a throw of 162-11, which was also an NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
On the men’s side, Clay Kramper set new school records in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, while Derek Lahm broke a 25-year old school record in the long jump.
Kramper ran wind-aided times of 10.55 in the 100 and 21.31 in the 200, finishing second and fourth, respectively. Kramper’s 100 time bettered the mark of 10.58 by Braxton Adams in 2015, while the 200 time bettered his own mark of 21.34 set two years ago.
Lahm won the long jump with a leap of 24-7 1/4, good for an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. His leap bettered the old record of 24-1 1/2 set by Lee Harper in 1992.
In other women’s action, senior Mary Alderson recorded a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter dash (25.58) and was eighth in the 100-meter dash in 12.47 seconds. Morgan Shearer came in fourth in the long jump (17-1 1/2) while Tia Jones was fourth in the shot put at 44-11.
Senior Kacie O’Connor recorded a seventh place finish in the discus (147-5), while Joan Jelimo took seventh in the 400-meter dash in 1:03.20.
In men’s action, sophomore Cade Kalkowski reached an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the hammer throw, placing second with a heave of 185-3. Sophomore Dylan Kaup placed sixth in the event at 176-2. Senior Brady Metz won the triple jump at 47-6 1/4 while placing fifth in the long jump at 22-2 1/4.
Sophomore Habib Jallow was second in the 400-meter hurdles (57.17) and third in the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 15.00 seconds. Freshman Preston Davis was fourth in the 400-meter hurdles (58.39), fifth in the 110-meter high hurdles (15.91) and fifth in the javelin (153-4).
Wayne State will compete next weekend at the Concordia Invitational in Seward on Friday and Saturday.
