Bre Harthoorn and Rebekah Muilenburg both hit the auto mark and won their respective events to highlight the Red Raiders women’s track and field team at the Dakota Wesleyan Alumni Open held Saturday at the Avera Sports and Wellness Complex in Mitchell, S.D.
Harthoorn and teammate Katie Bosch finished first and second, respectively, in the 1000m, crossing the finish line in 3:00.45 and 3:01.7. Harthoorn met the auto mark and is currently ranked fourth in the NAIA and second in the GPAC. Bosch, who met the auto mark in a previous meet, hit the provisional standard.
Muilenburg, from Orange City, won the 600m met the auto mark with a time of 1:36.74, 1.5 seconds faster than Kiana Hoff-Au of Mount Marty. Muilenburg, a returning All-American in the 600m, ran the fastest time in the GPAC to date and has the sixth best time in the NAIA.
Northwestern athletes won four events and posted 16 top five and 27 top 10 finishes this weekend. Anna Heusinkveld posted three top five finishes in the sprint races, winning the 60m in a time of 7.97. The sophomore also finished second in the 400m (1:02) and third in the 200m (27.04). Caley Vink recorded her first win of the season, taking first in the shot put with a toss of 41-06 (12.65m), her second best throw of the season.
Sarah Lunn placed second in the mile (5:23) and then anchored a 4×400 relay that placed third with a time of 4:12. Muilenburg, Bosch and Harthoorn were the other relay members.
Northwestern will compete in the SDSU Indoor Classic, a two-day meet held in Brookings, S.D., in the final tune-up before the GPAC Championship on Feb. 16-17.
