Track and Field has record breaking start to season

The Luther track and field team means business this season with their new team motto, “We ain’t messin’ around this year.” The new motto has set the tone for team, and they are excited to compete with all that they have.

Head Coach Jeff Wettach feels the motto captures the spirit of the athletes.

“This is a good way to set the tone, especially come Saturdays,” Wettach said. “We’re not there to mess around.”

The team had a good start to the season with the alumni meet Saturday, Feb. 6. Dani Meirick (‘12) broke the indoor school record for the 1000 meter run and Andrew Grove (‘13) broke the school record in the 55-meter dash.

Building off last season’s results, the team has raised their expectations for this season. Co-captain of the women’s team, Kelsey Wauters (‘11), is proud of this new attitude.

“We weren’t necessarily pleased with our performance in indoor last year which was a motivator for getting after it this year,” she said.

Sprinter Kyler Maxfield (‘11) feels hopeful that this season will keep building off the success of the alumni meet with over 60 alumni returning.

“We are the only team in the conference that didn’t have any meets in January, so it was good to get the first meet in to try to see where we match up to the other teams in the conference,” Maxfield said.

Co-Captain of the men’s team, JJ Cook (’10) feels the team can look to the leadership from the seniors and more experienced athletes.

“We’re just not going to hold back and make sure we do everything we can,” he said.

Luther Track and Field has a great team atmosphere. Emily Cory (‘12) feels they depend heavily on the support of teammates.

“If you’re running, there will always be people cheering you on and wanting you to get better,” Cory said.

Placing sixth at the Carleton Meet of Hearts Invititional on Saturday, the men’s team finished with 63.5 points.

Placing first for the Norse was Drew Burmahl (‘10) who won the 3000 meter run with a time of 8:47.30.

Trent Stonerook (‘11) broke the school record for the 35-pound weight throw. He threw 48 feet, edging the previous record by 3/4 of an inch.

The women’s team placed fourth and had two first place finishers during the day. Dani Meirick (‘12) placed first in the 800 meter run while Katie Dolan (‘10) placed first in the mule run.

Kim Horner (‘11) finished second in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 10:45.09

The team finished with 95.5 points, 7.5 behind third place finisher Hamline Univerity (Minn.).

Both the men’s and women’s teams will resume competition Feb. 20 at the Dubuque Invite. The meet begins at 10 a.m.