STORM LAKE, Iowa – The Dakota Wesleyan University men and women track and field teams returned to action Saturday at the Buena Vista Invite hosted by Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. Senior Nicole Court-Menendez (Lewiston, Maine) competed in the racewalk at the Jim Greene Invite hosted by Illinois College.
The DWU men were led by senior Daniel Porter (Plattsmouth, Neb.) and freshman Ben Hammer (Dell Rapids, S.D.). Porter finished the triple jump in first place with a final jump of 12.70 meters. Hammer had a first-place finish in the shot put throwing 15.62 meters and finished fourth in the weight throw with a throw of 14.75 meters. Hammer's toss qualified him automatically for the NAIA Indoor Track and Field National Championships.
Sophomore John Dosch (Sioux Falls, S.D.) finished the triple jump in seventh place with a leap of 10.79 meters. Freshman Brandon Kocmich (Dante, S.D.) had a top-10 finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.13. Sophomores Lane Tibbs (Kenesaw, Neb.) and Jeremiah Panec (Kenesaw, Neb.) competed in the one-mile run. Tibbs finished in sixth place with a time of 4:32.78 and Panec 15th-place in 4:40.42.
For the Tiger women, Skylar Forgey (Colome, S.D.) had a sixth-place finish in the 600-meter run with a 1:42.43. Forgey was also a member of the 4X800-meter relay team that finished the race in 10:03.66, additional members were Kamber Lamer (Hartford, S.D.), Jessica Fossum (Canton, S.D.) and Jessica Neises (Madison, S.D.). The group's time broke the DWU school record in the event.
Lamer had a second-place finish in the long jump with a distance of 5.24 meters and a third-place finish in the triple jump with a long leap of 10.56 meters. Freshman Kristen Longville (Lake Preston, S.D.) had a leap of 4.88m to finish in sixth place in the long jump, while Fossum finished right behind in seventh place with a jump of 4.87 meters. Senior Tara Ronke (Tyndall, S.D.) had a top-10 finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:43.20.
The DWU men's team finished the Buena Vista Invite in eighth place out of 10 teams; Northwestern College took home the title on the men's side. For the women, the Tigers finished in seventh place, while the Morningside women won the invitational.
DWU's lone competitor Court-Menendez competed in the 3,000-meter racewalk at the Jim Green Invite. Court-Menendez finished the race in third place with a time of 15:57.65.
The Tigers track and field teams will be at the South Dakota State University Invite Saturday in Brookings, S.D., for their final meet before the Great Plains Athletic Conference Indoor Championships Feb. 19-20.