Northwestern College women’s track and field athletes qualified for nationals in three events, won two events and set one record this weekend at the Red Raider Open. The two-day event concluded this past weekend at DeValois Stadium.
Katie Landhuis won the 800m on Saturday with a stadium record time of 2:15.26, breaking the old mark held by Breanna Mathes (Morningside) in 2011. Landhuis met the NAIA provisional mark and has the 14th fastest time in the NAIA. Landhuis was among four Red Raiders who finished in the top 10 in the 800m, followed closely by Rebekah Muilenburg who placed second (2:19), Bre Harthoorn in third (2:20) and Katrina Engebretson finished ninth (2:25).
Katie Bosch met the provisional mark in the 1500m, finishing second with a time of 4:41.1, less than a second behind Michelle Mumm (Morningside) who crossed the finish line first in a time of 4:40. Bosch currently has the 14th fastest time in the NAIA. Two additional Red Raiders, Kassidy De Jong (4th) and Sarah Lunn (7th), placed in the top 10 with times of 4:51 and 4:53, respectively.
On Friday night, the Red Raiders 4×800 relay team of Muilenburg, Harthoorn, Landhuis and Bosch finished first with a time of 9:10.5 and easily met the NAIA Auto mark. This quartet, the national runner-up during the NAIA Indoor Championships, crossed the finish line 14 seconds ahead of second place Morningside. A second Northwestern 4×800 team, De Jong, Engebretson, Lunn and Anna Teigland, placed fourth with a time of 9:52.4.
Red Raider athletes turned in a total of 26 top 10 finishes this weekend, including Anna Heusinkveld, who placed in the top 10 in three events. The sophomore finished fourth in both the 100m (12.6) and 200m (26.3) and was part of a 4×100 relay that finished second with a time of 49.83. Emily Sorensen turned in a pair of top 10’s, finishing ninth in the 400m (1:01.6) and fourth as a member of the 4×400 relay (4:10).
Molly Cunard and Hannah Morgan led the Red Raiders in field events; Cunard placed sixth in both the discus and javelin and Morgan finished seventh in the discus and javelin.
