PART 2: WINTER COLLEGE SPORTS REPORT - Sullivan qualifies for NCAA indoor meet; Petkau sets Crown jump records

PART 2: WINTER COLLEGE SPORTS REPORT

In November, 2022 Medford graduate Joey Sullivan was part of a UW-La Crosse men’s cross country team that fell one point short of an NCAA Division III national championship.

This winter’s indoor track and field squad made sure it didn’t come down to one point again.

The Eagles rolled to the title at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships held March 8-9 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center, scoring 74 points to beat their Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) rival UW-Eau Claire by 22 points. UW-Oshkosh was third with 51 points and UW-Whitewater was fourth with 37 points, demonstrating the conference’s track and field strength. Sullivan made the trip to Virginia Beach by qualifying in the one-mile run. His regular-season best time of 4:11.03 gave him second place in the WIAC’s Indoor Championships, held Feb. 23-24 at UW-Whitewater and assured him a spot in the NCAA meet. That was his second-best time of the season, beating his 4:11.95 which took first place out of 38 runners during the Midwest Elite Invitational Feb. 10, also hosted by Whitewater.

At the national meet, Sullivan placed 16th out of 20 runners in the preliminary race with a time of 4:14.3. The top 10 runners made the final, with Will Goddard of Bowdoin getting the last spot at 4:08.69. Eric Anderson of UC-Santa Cruz had the top preliminary time of 4:08.2, but runner-up Bennett Booth-Genthe of Pomona-Pitzer (4:11.94) turned the tables in the final on day two, winning it in 4:04.23, 1.34 seconds ahead of Anderson. UW-L’s Jayden Zywicki was fifth in 4:07.41 and Aidan Manning was ninth at 4:08.99.

The indoor national title for the Eagles was an NCAA Division III record 20th for the program. The team also won last year’s title.

UW-La Crosse easily won the WIAC championship with 242.5 points, outscoring UW-Oshkosh (161), UW-Eau Claire (85), UW-Whitewater (73) and UW-Stout (48.5) among the top five teams. There, Sullivan finished just behind Whitewater’s Christian Patzka (4:09) in the race for the conference mile title. Sullivan topped a run of five Eagles in six spots. Parker Heintz was third in 4:11.5, Elias Ritzke was fourth in 4:11.51, Eau Claire’s Mason Shea was fifth in 4:12.32, Manning was sixth at 4:12.5 and Zywicki was seventh at 4:12.54.

During the indoor season, Sullivan also competed in the 3,000-meter run twice. He won the race in 8:21.57 at the Feb. 3 Mark Guthrie Legacy Invite in La Crosse. He beat nine other entrants. Runner-up Corey Fairchild of UW-L was 6.24 seconds behind. Sullivan was ninth in UW-L’s Pat Healy Classic Jan. 20 with a time of 8:34.95.

Sullivan also was eighth in the distance medley with a time of 10:03.21 in UW-L”s Eagle Open Feb. 16.

Also in indoor track and field this winter:

 Steven Petkau, a 2020 Rib Lake graduate, set indoor school records in triple jump and long jump this winter at Crown College (Minn.).

His best triple jump distance of the winter was 13.49 meters (44 feet, 3.25 inches) and was good for second place at the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference’s Indoor Championships, hosted by UW-Superior Feb. 23-24. Petkau was 11 inches behind champion Jeremiah Stanton of Martin Luther. Also in the conference meet, Petkau tied for sixth in the high jump, clearing the bar at 1.79 meters (5-10.5) and he was ninth in the long jump, leaping 5.74 meters (18-10). The Polars finished fourth out of seven teams with 68.5 points. The host Yellowjackets won the meet easily with 245.5 points, well ahead of runnerup Martin Luther (153) and third-place Minnesota-Morris (79).

In the meet before that, the Feb. 17 Gene Glader Classic hosted by Bethel College, Petkau extended his own school record in the long jump, going 6.22 meters (20-5). That was good for second place out of nine jumpers and was 2 inches behind winner Jah’kiing Joseph of Northwestern (Minn.). Petkau scored well in that meet, adding a second-place finish in the high jump at 1.78 meters (5-10) and a secondplace finish in the triple jump at 12.49 meters (40-11.75). He was 2 inches out of first in the triple jump and 4 inches behind winner Isaac Weiers of North Central (Minn.) in the high jump as the Polars placed third in that meet with 78 points behind Bethel (224) and Superior (101).

Petkau also recorded triple jump distances of 13.15 meters (43-1.75), good for second place at the College of St. Scholatistica Opener Dec. 9; 13.35 meters (43-9.75), good for second place at the St. Olaf Ole Opener Jan. 20, and 12.63 meters (41-5.25) at the NAIA preview hosted by South Dakota State Jan. 26-27.

He was eighth in the long jump on Dec. 9 at 6.02 meters (19-9), eighth on Jan. 20 at 6.09 meters (19-11.75) and 15th at 5.88 meters (19-3.5).

Crown’s men’s track and field program is relatively new on the NCAA Division III scene having launched in 2015-16 school year. Petkau is listed is in his junior year of eligibility.

 Franny Seidel, a 2020 Medford graduate, capped a solid indoor season by taking part in three top-five finishes for the University of Minnesota-Duluth women’s team at the Feb. 23-24 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference championships hosted by Minnesota State in Mankato.

Individually, Seidel placed fifth in the 800-meter run. She got to the final by placing fifth in the day-one preliminary race at 2:18.56 and stayed in fifth the next day with a time of 2:19.72. Elizabeth Acheson of the University of Mary won the final in a conference- record time of 2:11.06. Duluth’s Savannah Schley, a Loyal grad, placed third in 2:13.48.

Seidel, a senior, ran the final 1,600-meter leg of the distance medley relay, where the Bulldogs placed second in 11:52.57, just 0.32 seconds behind champion Minnesota State. The team finished 3.22 seconds ahead of third-place Mary.

Seidel also ran the final 400-meter leg for Duluth’s 1,600-meter relay team, which placed fifth out of 12 teams in a time of 4:00.61. Augustana was the team no one could beat, finishing in 3:52.44.

Minnesota-Duluth placed fifth out of 14 teams with 40 points in the meet, which Minnesota State had no trouble winning over the University of Mary 228.5-133.5. Augustana was third with 123 points.

Earlier in the season, Seidel set a personal-best time in the mile run while winning the event in the Feb. 3 Ted Nelson Classic held at Minnesota State. Her time was 5:05.49 and easily beat the rest of the six-runner field. Lauren Ellefson of St. Thomas was second in 5:26.27.

The 800-meter run became Seidel’s primary event during the season. She was third out of 16 finishers in 2:16.2 at the University of Minnesota’s Jack Johnson Classic Jan. 26-27, third out of 24 runners at Minnesota State’s Maverick Premier Meet #1 on Feb. 9 with a time of 2:16.33, second out of 15 runners in 2:17.04 at the Feb. 10 Maday Classic at UW-Superior and second out of 12 runners in 2:15.84 at the University of Minnesota’s Snowshoe Classic on Feb. 16.

Seidel was fourth in mile in 5:13.89 at Minnesota State’s Bearson-Gathje Classic Jan. 12 and fourth in the 1,000-meter run in 3:10.47 at the Twin Ports Invite at UWSuperior Jan. 20.

 Alicia Kawa, a 2021 Medford graduate, placed in two distance races for Concordia University Wisconsin at the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Championships held at UW-Stevens Point Feb. 23-24.

On day one, Kawa placed fifth in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 19:32.94. She was in a pack of four CUWFalcons who took the third through sixth spots in the race, which was won by Aurora’s Deyanne Colon Maldonado in 18:15.73. On day two, Kawa added a point to CUW’s team total by placing eighth in the 3,000-meter run in a time of 10:56.38. She was well ahead of ninth-place runner Brenna Cisler of St. Norbert (11:14.8) and just 0.2 seconds behind St. Norbert’s Faith Mertzig for seventh. Colon Maldonado won that race as well in 10:09.61.

Kawa first ran the 3,000 meters Feb. 17 in the UW-Parkside Classic. She placed second out of six runners in 11:03.35.

At the NACC meet, CUW placed third with 113.5 points, while Aurora was second with 122.

The champions were the St. Norbert Green Knights, a team that includes another 2021 Medford graduate, Ellee Grunwald. St. Norbert scored 180.5 points to win the title.

Grunwald ran in one event at the conference meet, taking 14th place out of 27 entrants in the 800-meter run. Her time was 2:35.86. Aurora’s Madison Etheridge won in 2:23.99.

The 800 was Grunwald’s most common event of the indoor season. She was 12th out of 26 finishers in a personal-best time of 2:31.37 at the Feb. 17 UW-Oshkosh Titan Challenge. She was just 1.09 seconds out of the top 10. Grunwald was seventh out of 17 runners in 2:34.23 at the Feb. 10 Dick Hendricks Invite hosted by Ripon College, not far behind winner Berkeley Krell of Lawrence (2:28.63). Also in that meet, Grunwald was part of St. Norbert’s fifthplace 1,600-meter relay team that finished in 4:29.25. Lawrence won in 4:13.09.

Also at Ripon’s Red Hawk Invite Feb. 3, Grunwald placed 16th out of 26 finishers in the 800 at 2:38.53 and she placed 14th out of 40 entrants in the mile run at 5:42.34. Grunwald was fifth out of 13 800-meter runners at the Jan. 19 Friday Night Spikes #2 meet in Terre Haute, Ind. with a time of 2:36.45.

Grunwald was seventh in the 3,000-meter race to open the season at the UWStevens Point Pointer Alumni meet. Her time was 11:37.5. She lowered that to 11:29.89 at the Leonard “Squig” Converse Invitational at UW-Whitewater Jan. 26-27, finishing 12th.

Grunwald added one more mile run, taking 17th in 5:41.28 at the Butler Invitational Jan. 20.

In the water

Morgan Ball, a 2021 Medford graduate, completed her junior season with the University of Minnesota-Morris women’s swim team by participating in seven different events during the squad’s thirdplace finish in the Liberal Arts Conference Championship meet held Feb. 14-17 in Hobart, Ind.

Ball made the championship final in the 100-yard backstroke and placed sixth in 1:07.43 after she posted a preliminary time of 1:05.87, easily her best time of the season. Ball just missed making the championship final in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing seventh in the preliminaries at 1:04.09, one spot and 0.13 seconds short, but also her best time of the season. She then finished eighth overall, second in the consolation final, with a time of 1:05.33.

Ball improved significantly again in the 200-yard butterfly, finishing ninth in the preliminaries at 2:39.16. She then finished 10th overall, fourth in the consolation final, with a time of 2:42.31.

Ball was on the Cougars’ 400-yard medley relay team that took fourth in 4:19.71 behind St. Ambrose (4:01.64), Asbury University (4:05.6) and the Illinois Institute of Technology (4:13.15). She led off for the 200-yard medley relay team that also took fourth in 1:56.22 and trailed St. Ambrose (1:49.5), Asbury (1:51.22) and the Illinois Institute of Technology (1:53.37).

Ball also swam with the 200-yard freestyle B team (1:47.37) and the 400-yard freestyle C relay team (4:07.3).

The Cougars scored 339 points in the meet to outscore the Illinois Institute of Technology (293) and Williams Baptist University (8). St. Ambrose won the meet with 598 points and Asbury University had 451.

In the Jan. 27 Piper Red Invitational hosted by Hamline in St. Paul, Ball was 3rd Shift

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third in the 200-yard butterfly (2:46.55), seventh in the 100-yard backstroke (1:09.99) and 10th in the 100-yard butterfly (1:17.09).

In a 142-42 win over Morningside University on Jan. 13, Ball was second in the 100-yard butterfly (1:05.83), fourth in the 50-yard freestyle (29.04) and on Morris’ winning 200-yard medley relay (2:02.61).

The previous day in a double dual with AugustanaandSouthwestMinnesotaState, Ball was fifth in the 200-yard backstroke (2:32.82), fifth in the 100-yard butterfly (1:08.97), sixth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:10.81) and on the Cougars’ sixth-place 200-yard medley relay (2:03.66).

 Faith Piller, a 2020 Medford graduate, finished her senior year of diving with the UW-Stevens Point women’s swim team.

In a 244-59 loss to Division I Milwaukee Feb. 3, Piller ranked seventh out of nine divers in the 1-meter competition with a score of 169.5 and was eighth in 3-meter diving with a score of 160.58.

Piller had a strong score of 226.65 in 1-meter diving during the Point Invite Jan. 19-20, a meet the Pointers placed second out of five teams in with 556 points. Gustavus won with 653 points.

In a 218-82 dualmeet loss at WIAC rival UW-La Crosse Jan. 27, Piller earned a 1-meter score of 148.8 and placed 12th and a 3-meter score of 152.25 and placed 11th.

In a 185-108 win at St. Norbert College Oct. 27, Piller placed sixth in 1-meter diving with a score of 146.85 and fourth in 3-meter diving with a score of 143.7. In a Nov. 4 double-dual at Minnesota State-Mankato that included Gustavus Adolphus, Piller was 12th in 3-meter diving at 129.75 and 16th in 1-meter diving at 138.8.

Steven Petkau

Franny Seidel

Alicia Kawa

Ellee Grunwald

Morgan Ball

Faith Piller