Michigan Tech runner Claire Endres competes in the steeplechase in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Tech University)

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — The Michigan Tech Huskies track & field teams opened the outdoor season at the WashU Distance Carnival and the St. Norbert Early Bird Meet, highlighted by a school record and NCAA provisional qualifying mark from senior Claire Endres on Thursday evening.

Endres shaved 15 seconds off her previous personal best to win the second section of the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, opening her season with a sub-11-minute performance. Her time of 10:58.95 broke the previous school record by more than five seconds and dipped under the NCAA provisional standard of 10:59.02, ranking her 12th nationally.

“Making the trek all the way down to St. Louis has again proven worth it. The fields in the meet are so tightly packed that everyone we’re able to get into the meet has the opportunity to embrace a simple compete mindset and can expect to find measurable growth,” said head coach Robert Young. “I was really pleased with how tactically sound all of our racers were all weekend. Every one of them ran smart races and gave themselves a chance to win their heat. It seemed that nearly every race we had someone in contention at the front with less than 20% of the race remaining. A huge congrats go to Claire and Austin for getting it all the way right to win their heats.

“Claire’s race felt particularly special since I’ve been able to work with her in this event from day one. She has really taken a step with her fitness this spring and her technical prowess over the barriers is among the very best examples in any field. That was a major contributor to her closing a significant gap over the last 400m of her race to get the heat win. It’s been a couple years since we’ve had a provisional mark on our women’s roster and I think she has more in her. I’m looking forward to chasing an even faster time in hopes of qualifying for the national meet.”

The personal-best performances continued on Friday, as Ingrid Halverson placed second in her section of the women’s 10,000 meters. Halverson crushed her previous best of 38:57.04, set at last year’s GLIAC Championship, by nearly two minutes, clocking 37:01.23 to finish second in the heat.

“Senior Ingrid Halverson’s massive 10k PR is also particularly noteworthy,” said Young. “It’s not often you have an athlete average nearly five seconds a lap faster than their previous best.”

In the women’s 5,000 meters, senior Ingrid Seagren led the way in her debut at the distance, placing third in her section with a time of 18:22.75. Senior Alisa Teige followed closely, finishing sixth with a personal-best 18:28.79.

On the men’s side, junior Colman Lenci paced the Huskies in the 5,000 meters, placing ninth in his section with a personal-best time of 14:49.91. Four additional Huskies recorded personal bests in the event, led by senior Austin Smelker, who won his section in 15:03.25. Junior Luke Prevecek (15:17.65), sophomore Derin Apul (15:26.35), and sophomore Brayden Sobecki (15:32.43) also posted personal records, while freshmen Dominic Lowrie (15:29.45) and Matthew Verellen (15:32.96) made their collegiate debuts.

In the finale of the WashU Distance Carnival, senior Michael Dennis ran 30:32.14 in his first collegiate 10,000 meters on the track, placing 21st in his section.

At the St. Norbert Early Bird Meet Saturday, junior Brady Hager won his second straight 800 meters, breaking the two-minute barrier with a time of 1:58.71.

On the women’s side, sophomore Julia Moxey finished second in 2:23.84, while sophomore Adeline Gobble placed third with a personal-best 2:30.43.

The Huskies also swept second through fourth in the women’s 1,500 meters, led by sophomore Sam Shaver (4:58.89), followed by senior Haliee Zimpel (5:02.82) and freshman Alena Tiernan (5:04.35).

Senior Lucas Seng paced a group of eight Huskies in the men’s 1,500 meters, placing third in his heat with a time of 4:09.69. In the men’s 5,000 meters, sophomore Finnian Stringer led the way with a time of 16:02.52, while freshman Bella Reimers broke the 20-minute mark in the women’s race, placing fourth in 19:45.23.

Up next

The Huskies will resume the outdoor season on April 10-11 traveling to Platteville, Wisconsin, for the UW-Platteville Invitational.