UWS Women Open in River Falls

NSO- NEWS RELEASE

The cross country season for the Yellowjacket women got underway a week later than anticipated. The 2014 campaign was supposed to commence last weekend at Bemidji State, but a lack of teams forced the meet’s cancelation. Things got cranked up for real on Saturday, however, as the long-awaited season began at the UW-River Falls Invitational.

This season the Yellowjackets, enjoying a larger roster than year’s past (12 runners), are a young squad, with no seniors and only three juniors on the team. The youthful enthusiasm was on full display on a picture-perfect fall Saturday, with the Yellowjackets coming home with a host of personal best marks. The records are noteworthy, considering that half of the roster had never before competed in a six-kilometer event.

Macalester College won the women’s event with a total of 40 points. The Scots’ Mira Ensley-Field came home with top honors, winning the race with a time of 23:02.9.

Leading the way for the Yellowjackets was the junior class duo of Kate Weyenberg (Wrightstown, Wis./Wrightstown) and Jackie Erickson (Duluth, Minn./East). Weyenberg was the first Yellowjacket to finish, crossing the finish line with a time of 25:12.9. Erickson was right behind her with a time of 25:23.2. Weyenberg placed 35th while Erickson was two spots back at 37th. In total, the top seven runners for the Yellowjackets finished in under 30 minutes.

“Overall I’m pleased with what our women’s team accomplished today. There were a lot of runners competing at this distance for the first time, and with it being their first race of the season I liked what I saw from them,” Yellowjacket Head Coach Glen Drexler said. “We’ll take this and build on it and hopefully see some nice improvement from them as a group and individually next week.”

Yellowjacket Finishers
Kate Weyenberg (Wrightstown, Wis./Wrightstown) – 25:12.9
Jackie Erickson (Duluth, Minn./East) – 25:23.2
Sara Schield (Two Harbors, Minn./Two Harbors) – 27:23.1
Alissa Boyhtari (Duluth, Minn./Denfeld) – 27:23.4
Brittney Kemi (Cloquet, Minn./Esko) – 27:29.9
Hannah Kautz (Osceola, Wis./Osceola) – 28:29.4
Selina Walters (Eben Junction, Mich./Superior Central) – 29:27.0
Sophia Bornowski (Edina, Minn./Edina) – 30:21.0
Rachel Hills (Hayward, Wis./Hayward) – 32:35.6
Jessica Irvine (Spooner, Wis./Shell Lake) – 33:41.7

The Yellowjackets will compete next at St. Olaf Invitational Saturday, September 20. The meet will get underway at 10:00 a.m. in Northfield, Minnesota