ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Winona State track and field team opened its outdoor season in nearly perfect fashion Friday, winning five of six events and earning a commanding lead in the team standings after day one of the Viking Olympics in Rock Island, Illinois.
With nine events scored, the Warriors have compiled 137 points to sit comfortably in first place. Host Augustana (Ill.) is second with 63 points, followed by Northern Michigan with 49, Michigan Tech with 21 and Culver-Stockton with 12 points.
The 4x200-meter relay team of Hailey Deschaine, Tamika Tucker, Brittany Schyvinck and Megan Seidl set a new meet record and the second-fastest time in school history with a time of 1:42.09. The time was just shy of the school record of 1:41.93 set in 2012.
The 4x800-meter relay squad of Madeline Tompach, Madison Schroeder, Katie Bagley and Ali Johnson also took the top spot with a time of 9:55.85, the seventh-best mark in school history.
The Warriors earned the top two sports in the distance medley relay, with the team of Amanda Kaiser, Tara Roelofs, Hope Willenbrink and Jordan Paschke clocking in at 12:35.08, the third-best DMR in school history. WSU's second team of Tiffany Sunderland, Korina Gomez, McKenzie Carper and Hannah Lewis finished second with a time of 13:10.80, the fourth-best time in history.
Raissa Hansen set the fourth-best time in school history to earn the 3000-meter steeplechase title, winning the event with a time of 11:27.14.
The Warriors were dominant in the hammer throw, claiming the top five spots. Junior Nicole Nelson won the event with a heave of 183' 7", while teammate Kaitlyn Long took second with a toss of 181'. Both throws broke the previous meet record set by WSU's Emily King in 2007. Nelson's throw betters her previous top throw of 181' 11" set last season, which is sixth-best in the WSU record books.
The only event of the day the Warriors didn't win saw WSU take home a second place finish in the javelin throw, as Lindsay Rutz threw a distance of 103' 6". The event winner was unattached, thus giving Rutz the full 10 points in the event.
Day two at the Viking Olympics is set to begin at noon Saturday with the long jump as the first of 14 events in which the Warriors are scheduled to compete.
