TRACK & FIELD: Alma Women Take First Place Honors at Manchester Invite; Men Second
FULL RESULTS
MANCHESTER, Ind. - Alma College track and field enjoyed a successful day of competition at the Manchester Invitational as the women's team won in the four-team event and the men finished second. Tara Bjorne (Manistique) won the 100 meter, 200 meter and triple jump for the trifecta. Alma's women's team scored 253 points and the men scored 158 points for the day.
Bjorne won the 100 with a time of 13.16 and teammate Katie Porter (Cheboygan) finished second with a time of 13.36. Bjorne came through with a win in the 200 meter with a time of 27.42 while Kristina Fuehring (Hart) added a top-three finish in the event with a time of 27.71. Fuehring followed up that performance with a first place finish in the 400, crossing the line in 1:02.24. Teammate Ashleigh Ocenasek (Perry) was second with a time of 1:02.62.
In the distance events, Stacy Jorgensen (Muskegon/Reeths-Puffer) was third in the 5000 with a time of 22:48 and Megan Gibson (Alma) was second in the 10,000 with a time of 47:57.
The 100 and 400 hurdles also went down as Scot victories with Rachel Rochefort (Bad Axe) winning the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.94 and Megan LaPine (Harbor Beach) was the event winner in the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:15.50. The 3000 steeplechase went to Erin Hemerling (Hastings) with a time of 12:43.02. The women's 4x100 relay team took the top spot by over two full seconds, crossing the line in 52.15.
In the field, Andrea Richardson (Mayville) continued her strong performances, taking event honors in the high jump and pole vault with marks of 1.57 and 3.05, respectively. In the high jump, Molly Steere (St. Louis) was second with a mark of 1.37 and in the pole vault, Katie Porter was second with a mark of 2.90.
Bjorne picked up her final event win in the triple jump with a distance of 9.97. Steere put up a strong performance in the javelin with a distance of 25.50 meters while Natalie Cordes (Barton City/Alcona) was second in the event with a mark of 28.60 meters.
The men's team was led by Kyle Percival (Lansing/Waverly) who finished first in the 100 meter dash with a time of 10.71 - he added a 200 win, crossing the line in 22.70 for top honors. In the 400, Frankie Brun (Oscoda/Culver Academies) was third with a time of 53.81.
Heading into the distance events, Steve Kuhlman (Battle Creek/Lakeview) was second with a time of 16:46.59.
The field events saw more success for the Maroon and Cream. Sophomore Chris Francis (Lapeer/East) was first in the long jump with a distance of 6.18 meters while Derek Curry (Peck) was third in the event with a mark of 6.15. In triple jump action, Brun took top honors with a distance of 12.73 meters while Curry was second with a distance of 12.00, even. The only throwing event that the Scots got a win in came from Brandon Smith (Mikado/Alcona) in the javelin who threw 43.90 meters for the win.
Alma returns to action April 4 when it hosts Hope and Olivet in an MIAA tri-meet at Bahlke Field.
Posted: Sat, March 31st, 2007 at 10:44PM
