Men claim seven top-five finishes between shot put and weight throw

February 10, 2006

[results]

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Bemidji State University's Adam Wilson broke the school record in the weight throw for the second week in a row, adding 16 and a half inches to his record-breaking performance of a week ago, as the BSU track and field teams competed at the Husky Open in St. Cloud, Minn., on Friday.

Wilson's toss of 56-11 1/2 was the longest of the competition and earned him a first place finish in front of fellow teammates Justin Cox (55-6 1/2), Phil McCollom (49-10) and Joe Remitz (49-1 1/2), who finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Wilson's distance currently ranks him 12th in the nation among NCAA Division II athletes. With his toss, Cox also moved onto into the national rankings. Cox currently sits in 21st place in the nation.

Along with his first place finish in the weight throw, Wilson also garnered a fourth place finish in the shot put with his distance of 48-9.

Finishing in front of Wilson in the shot put was Cox in second place (52-1 1/2) and Remitz who finished first. Remitz out-threw Cox by just a half an inch short of three feet to win the event with his toss of 55-1).

Combined, the men collected seven top-five finished in the throwing events.

The women had similar success in the throwing events, claiming five top-five finishes, two by Sheena Devine.

Devine won the shot put with her put of 45-7 3/4 and grabbed a third place finish in the weight throw (45-7 1/4). With her distance in the weight throw, Devine improved on her second place standing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and moved in the 13th place in the nation among NCAA Division II athletes.

Sara Olson finished behind Devine in the weight throw with her fourth place distance of 44-8 1/4. In the shot put, Devine was trailed by teammates Libby Schneider and Lindsey Bergeson, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Also in the field, Bemidji State was able to take five top-five finishes in the pole vault. For the men, Tommy Crummy had the teams' best finish, clearing the 14-9 1/2 mark to finish in second place. Lee Morberg was able to grab a fourth place finish with his jump of 12-6.

For the women, Angela Miller finished in third place (9-4 1/2) in front of fellow vaulters Katie McCrae (9-0 1/2) and Kaitlen Crummy (8-8 3/4). McCrae finished fourth in the event while Crummy finished fifth.

Bemidji State was also able to find success as Shelby Hougen and Leah Grabil each garnered first place finishes.

Hougen grabbed her first place finish in the 800-meter run with her time of 2:24.80. Hougen was also able to grab a second place finish in the triple jump with her leap of 15-11 3/4.

Grabil's first place finish came in the 200-meter dash as she crossed the finish line in 26.54.

Overall head coach Craig Hougen said he was pleased with the results as the team claimed 33 top-five finishes.

"We're making some great improvements as the season progresses," Hougen said. "You can see that as several of our athletes improved their times on the track and their distances in the field."

While most of the team will return to Bemidji, Rebecca Hougen, Tommy Crummy, Joe Bernau and Mike Hougen will travel to Aberdeen, S.D., to compete in the NSIC Multi as the league begins its conference championships on Sunday.

Other BSU top-five finishes - Name (place, event)
WOMEN
M'Kelle Tomberlin (third, long jump), (fourth, 55-meter dash); Kristen Mittness (third, triple jump); Rachel Hendrickson (fourth, triple jump); Brittney Olson (fifth, 3000-meter run)
MEN
Jon Clemons (third, high jump); Nate Bahr (fourth, triple jump); Matt Bischof (third, one mile run), (third, 800-meter run); Ben Hopkins (third, 55-meter run); James Winsor (second, 400-meter dash); Todd Zeidler (fourth, 400-meter dash); Justin Smith (fourth, 1000-meter run)

--bsu--