SEWARD, Neb. — Dakota Wesleyan Track & Field competed at the Concordia Classic down in Nebraska against regional talent from Friday, January 30th, through Saturday the 31st.
The women's team was led for the second consecutive meet by Shirley Huckins, who was 0.06 meters shy of hitting her personal-best mark from last week's competition, but still took first place in the unseeded women's weight throw with a best mark of 16.35m. Devin Hongslo and Samantha Kludt competed alongside Huckins in both the unseeded shot put and weight throw, with Hongslo recording a 10.62m throw in the shot put, while Kludt found her top mark in the weight throw, recording a mark of 12.76m. A trio of athletes, Dani Deffenbaugh, Riley Jones, and Jessica Venneberg, all competed in the women's pentathlon, where they all found top marks in different phases of the full event. Jones found her best result in the high jump, placing third out of 11 with a 1.52m leap, while Venneberg and Deffenbaugh tied for seventh, each having a top mark of 1.37m. Deffenbaugh took third place in the shot put portion, recording a 9.81m, which helped her place fifth overall in the final pentathlon standings. Stacy Ruelas-Hertz had a solid day in the 60m hurdles, placing fifth in finals with a 9.60-second recorded time, along with a respectable 28.54-second mark in the 200m. Aubrey Cumming would finish just behind Ruelas-Hertz in the 200m with a 29.55s final time, while Ashlyn Maldonado recorded top-30 finishes in both the 60m hurdles and 400m. Hailey Oswald would post a 20th-place finish in the 400m with a time of 1:04.21, while also cracking the top 16 in the 600m, posting a 1:46.51. Ella Pollreisz rounded out the women's team's effort with a 17th-place finish in the 1000m.
The Dakota Wesleyan men's team saw solid efforts across the board, with Quenton Walls once again taking the lead in the long and triple jump. His day in the pit included a fifth-place finish in the men's triple jump with a 13.41m best leap, while wrapping up the day in long jump with a 12th-place, 6.19m mark. Dustin Lemaster was the other Tiger to finish in the top 10 of one of his events as he cruised to a 51.54s time in the men's 400, earning him ninth place, while finishing 13th overall in the 600m. Kellen Brozik finished just behind Lemaster in the 600m, posting a 1:26.27, while recording a 53.53s in the 400m. Carter Harris was able to crack into the top 10 in the men's pole vault with 4.03m cleared, and Talan Heezen would follow behind in 16th with a 3.73m mark of his own. Gage Dietterle and Graham Huffman led the way in distance, with Dietterle recording a 2:14.67 in the 800m, while Huffman posted a 5:04.49 in the men's mile. Mikey Hart topped out DWU's efforts in the 60m prelims with a 7.13, earning him 13th overall, while Sean DeBlieck, Quincy Stephens, and Trevor Sladky all finished within 0.11 seconds of each other. Stephens was the top Tiger in the men's 200m with a recorded time of 24.30, while Tayne Herrmann rounded out the day with a recorded 9.37 in the prelims of the 60m hurdles.
DWU Track & Field will be back in action at the DWU Open, hosted in the Sports & Wellness Complex, on Saturday, February 7th. See the full 2025-26 schedule here.