The women's track and field team turned in four first place finishes at the St. Olaf Invitational.

St. Thomas, Gustavus, St. Olaf and River Falls all competed, however no team scores were kept.

Pacing the way for the Falcons was Katie Rydeen (Osceola, WI, Osceola).  She shaved nearly two seconds off her preliminary time to take the gold in the one-mile run.  Her final time of 5:14.55 bested her previous time of 5:16.50.  Teammate Brittany Nordland (Pine Island, MN, Pine Island) was not far behind as she placed fourth with a preliminary time of 5:17 and a final time of 5:26.90.

Also taking home gold for UWRF was Alyssa Rasmussen (Delano, MN, Delano) in the 400.  She also got better as the day went on, as her prelim time of 59.03 was beaten by her final time of 58.81.

Kayla Hillman (Shell Lake, WI, Shell Lake)  topped the competition in the pole vault.  She turned in a score of 11-1 in the prelims and a 10-6 score in the finals.

The final Falcon to take home medalist honors was Alicia Potting (New Richmond, WI, Somerset) in the triple jump.  Her final score of 36-4 was slightly better than her prelim mark of 36 1 ¼.

Potting also was part of the closest competition between Falcons.  In the 60-meter dash, Potting was edged by teammate Sophie Lasko (Lakeville, MN, North) in a photo finish.  Lasko's time of 8.243 was a sliver better than Potting, who crossed the line at 8.250.  Lasko would take third, and Potting, fourth in the contest.

Lasko also had a strong performance in the 200.  She placed fourth with a time of 27.22.

In the 60-meter hurdles, Kimberly Lueck (Watertown, MN, Watertown-Mayer) turned in a qualifying time of 9.51.  Her final time of 9.73 was good enough to place her third overall.

Teammate Liz O'Brien (Pine Island, MN, Pine Island) also placed third, but in the high jump with a score of 4-9 ¾.

Becky Ponick (Stanley, WI, Stanley-Boyd) and Morgan Kamps (Bayport, MN, Stillwater) represented the Falcons well in the shot put.  Ponick's throw of 39-10 ½ placed her second, while Kamps' throw of  37-0 ½ placed her third overall.

Up next for the Falcons in the Pointer Invitational.  Action is set to get underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4 at Stevens Point.

Results