Two Falcons set school records at home track and field meet

A pair of UW-River Falls track and field athletes can now find themselves in the school record books after the Falcons hosted the UW-MN Dual meet on Saturday, Feb. 14.

Sophomore pole vaulter Riley Claude and freshman pole vaulter Colton Sorensen both broke school records in the pole vault. Claude set the women's record and won first place in the event with a leap of 12-0 1/2, overtaking Carrie Van Houten’s previous women’s record of 11-9 3/4, set back in 2007.

Sorensen took home first place in the men’s pole vault with a leap of 16-0, which is also good for a school record. The record was previously held by Alex Jurgenson, who jumped 15-3 in 2013. Head Coach Matthew Cole can tell that Sorensen’s hard work is paying off.

“It was a great jump and a great competition for him, he’s improving each week,” Cole said.

The UWRF men dominated the pole vault competition, where five of the top five competitors were all Falcons. Junior pole vaulter AJ Walsh-Brenizer finished second in the pole vault with a career best 15-3 leap.

Overall, the men’s team won nine of the 16 events, while the women’s team managed to win eight of its 16 events. Cole was pleased with everyone’s performance.

“We had a great meet, our field athletes really had a very good meet,” Cole said. “We had some very good performances, 56 season bests. Broke two school records and had about 10 kids break into the top 10 all-time.”

Men's junior Taylor Eldred captured first place in the weight throw, with a throw of 52-7 1/2, which was also good for a season high. Sophomore Scott Smith came in second place with a season high throw of 48-6.

Later in the day, Smith accomplished a new season high in the shot put with a throw of 42-9 1/2, which was also good for first in the event. Eldred came in second with his season best throw of 41-0 1/2.

Some of the other first place finishes for the men included: freshman Hunter Hulley in the high jump; junior Shane White in the 55-meter hurdles; junior Matt Griffin in the 400-meter dash; junior Matt Pechacek in the 600-meter run; junior David Paynotta in the 55-meter dash; and the 4x400-meter relay team also won first place with a time of 3:29.9.

The women also fared well, as freshman Jacinta Roggenbuck took home first place in three events. She won the 400-meter dash, 200-meter dash and the 4x200-meter relay with her teammates, Grace Curran, Angie Reed and Sherahlynn Linkert.

The rest of the first place finishers were: junior Nicole Manteuffel in the high jump; Linkert in the 55-meter hurdles; and the 4x400-meter relay team.

After almost a month of competitions and meets, the Falcons seem to be firing on all cylinders right on time for the WIAC Indoor Championships on Feb. 27-28. Something that Cole is well aware of.

“We are very pleased, we are heading in the right direction, the kids are doing what we are asking,” Cole said. “Everyone is really rounding into shape. As a whole our program is improving in a lot of different areas.”

The Falcons have one more meet before the WIAC Indoor Championships at the University of Minnesota. The men participate on Friday, Feb. 20, and the women the next day on Saturday, Feb. 21.