LINCOLN – Defending NCAA Division II 800-meter national champion Wes Fergusonwon two events as the Nebraska Kearney track and field team was back in action this weekend at The Graduate Classic in Lincoln.
The large non-team scoring meet began Friday afternoon and ran until Saturday evening. The competition included many Division I teams and individuals.
Ferguson (Fremont) started a productive weekend by winning the mile in 4:13.92 on Friday night. Northwest Missouri State’s Reece Smith was a close second (4:14.06) in a field of 31. On Saturday, Ferguson took the 800 in a time of 1:49.97, just off his own school-record (1:49.47). Drake’s Isaac Basten was runner up (1:50.77) with the field consisting of 24 runners.
UNK closed Friday by running well in both the men’s and women’s 3,000. McCool Junction veteran Luke Stuckey won the men’s race (8:24.46) with Ainsworth junior Ben Arens the runner up (8:25.17). Stuckey cracks the schools all-time Top 10 list in an event where Arens has the record (8:12.96). On the women’s side, Fremont sophomore Mara Hemmer(3rd/10:12.23), Funk veteran Baylee Alstrom(4th/10:15.82) and Kearney junior Grace Bonsall (5th/10:17.75) all moved into the Top 10.
Other Friday highlights saw Stamford freshman Brianna Russell clear 5-5 to finish sixth in the high jump, York freshman Brynn Hirschfeldplace fifth in the 1,000 with a time (3:06.39) just outside the UNK Top 10, Kearney junior Nicole Messbarger finish 11th out of 52 in the 400 (59.06) and Gothenburg veteran Micah Swedberg run a 48.99 to be fourth out of 62 in the 400. That is just off his career-best of 48.51.
On Saturday, Aurora redshirt sophomore Kyla Carlson was ninth in the 600-meter run (1:39.86), Gothenburg junior Hannah Anderson was fourth in the 800 (2:19.73), Kearney junior Brayden Sorensen cleared 6-10.75 to be runner in in the high jump and Giltner senior Alex Goracke joined the national list with a 53-7.50 effort in the shot, good for ninth place.
The Lopers head to the annual Northwest Missouri State Open next Saturday.
