Results
Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire indoor track and field teams performed well in their final home meet of the season, finishing in the top three.
The men’s squad scored 107 points on Saturday at the Knox Open, barely getting edged out of first place by McKendree University’s 109. Knox, however, placed ahead of fellow Midwest Conference member Beloit College (102). The Fire women’s team placed third with 65 points.
Senior Emma Swanson (West Des Moines, IA, Valley) provided perhaps the biggest highlight of the meet by breaking the school record in the mile. Her time of 5:41.72 earned her a second place finish as well as eight points. She topped the previous record time of 5:47.33 by current senior Brenna DeGan (Naperville, IL, Naperville North) in January of 2009.
The first place time in the mile was 5:41.10, just .62 seconds ahead of when Swanson crossed the finish line. Also scoring for Knox in the mile was sophomore Yael Cody (Highland Park, IL, Highland Park), who moved from ninth to eight on the all-time performance list for the event, with her time of 5:59.89 and fifth place finish. DeGan finished the race in 6:12.84 for sixth place and points for Knox.
A second women’s track school record was broken by senior Kristi Weller (Cullom, IL, Tri-Point) in the 60 meter run. Weller ran the event in :08.36 in the preliminaries to qualify for the finals. She added six points by placing third overall. Weller beat her own record of :08.45, which she set in February of last year.
The women’s 4x200 meter relay team placed second in a time of 1:53.53. Co head coach Jason Haynes liked the performance. “I think our ladies 4x200m has finally clicked and we can expect to see them compete for a medal at the conference meet.”
The women’s 4x400 meter relay also had a good day, finishing first in 4:29.13.
Haynes admitted he was surprised by the men’s 4x200 meter relay team, which finished second in 1:36.09. “We had honestly put it together just to get a seed time for conference, but they far exceeded my expectations,” he said.
Two other men’s relay teams excelled. The 4x400 meter team placed second in 3:34.49 while the distance medley relay team ran the event in 10:55.17 for first place. The distance medley relay was just .14 seconds away from a new school record.
Junior Joe Puntoriero (Cheektowaga, NY, Cleveland Hill) had another big meet for the Prairie Fire. He was first in the 200 meter run, and his time of :22.94 was only .07 seconds short of the school record. Puntoriero bested his previous #2 all-time performance (:22.99) in the event by .05 seconds.
“Joe has been shooting for the 200m record since he was a freshman and I am all but certain that he can get it before this season ends,” Haynes said.
Puntoriero also broke the school record in the 60 meter run. He ran the race in :07.31. The previous record was :07.75.
Puntoriero also excelled in the long jump with his distance of 19’ 11 ½”. The leap was good for second place in the meet.
Sophomore Gabe Moreno (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg ) added a first place finish in the 3000 meter run. His time of 9:17.84 was nearly 18 seconds ahead of the runner-up in the race. Junior Jacob Buddell (Lake Bluff, IL, Lake Forest ) also scored for the Prairie Fire men by placing third.
Haynes also praised the efforts of first-year ShirJia Bielefeld (Weston, WI, DC Everest), who pole vaulted for the first time this season. She scored eight points for the Fire with a second place finish. “She still has a lot to learn about the event, but she has been one of the most dedicated athletes I have seen this season,” he said.
Haynes also pointed out that the men’s weight throw was an event, “Where our guys finally competed like they are capable of.”
Knox has the second through fifth place finishers in the weight throw. Senior Tony Sickley (LaSalle, IL, LaSalle-Peru ) was second, sophomore Devin Compton (Aurora, IL, West Aurora ) third, junior Dan Johnson (Chicago, IL, Loyola) fourth and junior Paul Lebryk (Glenview, IL, Glenbrook South ) was fifth.
The Prairie Fire got a second place finish from sophomore Weston Chenoweth (Canton, IL, Canton) in the shot put with his heave of 42’ 9 ½”. Sickly and Compton placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
Sophomore Sophia Mwuara (Santa Fe, NM, Santa Fe Prep) placed third for the women’s team in the weight throw with her distance of 37’ 1 ¼” while sophomore Catie McLaughlin (Roscoe, IL, Hononegah) was third in the shot put (35’ 11 ¼”).
“I was happy with the overall energy of this meet,” Haynes said. “The past couple of weeks we have been at larger meets and our athletes have been timid in the face of strong competition. This was a nice rebound for us and we will continue to build on that confidence.”
Knox concludes the regular season on February 18 at the Spartan Open, hosted by the University of Dubuque.
Follow Prairie Fire athletics on Twitter
