Jordan Baker ’15 (left) and Jack Feuerstein ’16 (center) represent the Green Knights in the hurdles.

On Track to the Record Books

The date May 9, 2015, will be remembered for a long time by members of the St. Norbert College men’s and women’s track-and-field programs. It was on that date that the Green Knight men captured their first Midwest Conference team championship, while the women won their first league outdoor title since 1991. St. Norbert defeated perennial powerhouse Monmouth College in the process: The Scots had won the previous 14 men’s and last 10 women’s championships.

The men’s squad clipped Monmouth by 15½ points, and sealed the championship with a pair of stunning performances in the 5,000-meter run. The women, who also won the MWC indoor title in February, won the title handily by a 75-point margin.

St. Norbert’s men’s squad held a precarious 6½-point lead heading into the penultimate event, the 5,000-meter run. The Green Knights did not have any of the top-eight seedings and were not expected to score any points in the event.

Logan Jadin ’15, running the 5K for just the second time this spring, fashioned a time of 15:57.02 to finish second. Hayden Hoffmann ’15 charged forward the last 200 meters of the race to finish fourth with a time of 16:06.19. Hoffmann leaped into Jadin’s arms as he crossed the finish line, and the duo’s 13 points clinched the conference title while setting off a wild celebration on the infield at Ripon College’s Ingalls Field. Randy Hill ’15 won MWC championships in the long jump and triple jump, and was second in the high jump. Hill was named the meet’s lone male Outstanding Field Performer. Brad Boockmeier ’16 also claimed an MWC title with the championship of the 110-meter hurdles.

The St. Norbert women turned in several dominating performances en route to their decisive victory. The occasion marked the Green Knight women’s first championship since a six-year run atop the MWC from 1986-91. Liz LeCaptain ’16 claimed MWC championships in the 100-meter dash and long jump, and was also part of the winning 4x100-meter relay squad. Brittany Kozlowski ’17 turned in first-place showings in the 800- and 1,500-meter runs, and was a member of the champion 4x400-meter relay quartet. LeCaptain and Kozlowski were two of the meet’s four female Outstanding Track Performers.

Coach Don Augustine was named both the Midwest Conference Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year. He was later selected Division III Men’s Midwest Region Coach of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

St. Norbert sent a school-record eight athletes to the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championship in late May. Boockmeier and Dan Sisler ’15 made the decathlon field, finishing fifth and 11th, respectively, while Tyler Lewis ’17, Austin Livingston ’16, Taylor Pasterski ’15 and Ryan Grandlic ’17 made up the 4x400-meter relay qualifier, setting a school-record time while finishing fourth. Kozlowski and Clarissa Jauregui ’17 both qualified in the 800-meter run, finishing fifth and sixth respectively.


July 3, 2015