Courtesy of Adam Hussman/MLC SID

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

ROMSDAHL SETS MLC WOMEN’S RECORD

ST. PETER — The Martin Luther College women’s outdoor track and field team delivered an all-around performance across multiple events at Gustavus on Wednesday. In total, the Knights collected seven top-three finishes.

The 4x800m relay team placed first with a mark of 10:30.17 (Sarah Felsing, Jemimah Habben, Carys Wendland, Rachel Weed).

Madelinn Romsdahl had an active day as a thrower and broke an MLC outdoor record in the shot put (12.12 meters), which surpasses the previous mark of 12.05 meters set by Melissa Neumann in 2017. Romsdahl placed second in the shot put, third in the discus (37.08 meters), and sixth in the hammer throw (35.82 meters).

Other top finishes included Grace Hahm placing second in the 800m (2:26.64/PR) and third in the 1500m (5:02.29). Habben finished just in front of Hahm in the 1500m with a time of 4:57.48 for second.

Elena Brauer earned a couple of third place finishes in the high jump (1.50 meters) and javelin (33.08 meters).

Mariah Schultz (1:01.70, 400m) and Hannah Rodmyre (10.34 meters, triple jump) each took sixth and set PRs in their respective events.

MLC women’s track and field will compete again next Wednesday, April 22, at 4 p.m. in a meet hosted by the University of Minnesota.

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

PERRY, MEN’S 4X100 RELAY TEAM SET MLC RECORDS

ST. PETER — The Martin Luther College men’s track and field squad competed in an annual outdoor meet at Gustavus on Wednesday afternoon. MLC represented well with 13 top-five finishes in track and field events.

A few Knights athletes also broke a pair of MLC outdoor records, including the 4x100m relay squad, who placed first in the race with a new record time of 42.59 (Jeremiah Stanton, Arthur Robinson, Stephen Wietzke, Kaden Hintz). The previous record of 42.67 was set last season at Gustavus as well.

R.J. Perry had another impressive day as a thrower, and the junior broke two MLC records that he held from a season ago in the shot put and hammer throws. Perry topped his previous best hammer throw of 43.90 m with a mark of 51.58 meters on Wednesday. In the shot put, Perry threw it 14.88 meters last season and made it 15.27 meters today. Both records were also done at Gustavus a season ago.

Additionally, the MLC men’s team took home another first place finish in the 4x800m relay, where Eliott Heiderich, Micah Vanderhoof, Camden Fager, and Henry Schapekahm finished in 8:53.60. Heiderich also added a 2nd place finish in the 800m (2:01.20).

Samuel Plocher had another busy meet, placing second in the high jump with a season-best 2.00-meter leap. The junior would also claim fourth in a pair of events (400m hurdles, 57.23) and (110m hurdles, 15.04).

In sprints, Wietzke placed third in the 100m (11.16) and 200m (22.31), which were season-best times for the runner. Wittenberg took fourth in the 100m with a time of 11.29 and seventh in the 200m (22.65), which were both personal records for the freshman.

In throws, Daniel Reinke had his farthest toss of the season (42.41 m), which put him third, while Jack Pittenger came in fourth in the javelin, throwing it 49.77 meters.

MLC track and field will be back at it for a meet at the University of Minnesota next Wednesday, April 22, at 11 a.m.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

MLC 5, CROWN 2

NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College women’s tennis team won its second consecutive conference match on Thursday when the Knights hosted Crown College on a warm and sunny outdoor match. MLC defeated the Polars 5-2 and completed the season sweep of Crown after previously defeating them 5-2 back in February in Owatonna.

The three doubles games were tightly contested, with two of them going in favor of the Knights to give them the point. In No. 1 doubles, Britney Prahl and Emily Gronholz edged out a 7-5 win, while Mathilde Bodenbender-Benner and Callie Bivens took their No. 3 doubles game 6-4.

Prahl also claimed her No. 1 singles match handily, beating her opponent in straight sets 6-2, 6-1. After a pair of close losses in No. 2 (Gronholz) and No. 3 singles (Rebekah Schroeder), MLC recorded a hard-fought victory by winning No. 4, No.5, and No. 6 singles matchups.

Bodenbender-Benner won in No. 4 6-3, 6-2, while Allie Hinz took No. 5 6-0, 7-5. Bivens earned a 6-2, 6-1 win in No. 6 singles.

MLC now improves to 4-7 overall, 2-1 UMAC, and will go on the road to face Hamline University in an away match on Monday, April 20, at 3:30 p.m.

MEN’S TENNIS

CROWN 4, MLC 3

NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College men’s tennis team took Crown to a tightly contested match on the MLC tennis courts on Thursday, but the Polars edged out the Knights 4-3.

MLC had beaten Crown 4-3 in February on a neutral indoor court. On Thursday, the Knights took Crown down to the brink in all three doubles matches, losing 4-6 in all of them, giving the Polars the point.

In singles play, MLC won three games and was competitive in another matchup. Two of MLC’s victories came in third-set tiebreaker fashion as Matthew Koelpin beat his No. 4 opponent 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 and Silas Hillmer won No. 6 singles by a final of 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-8). Abraham Schlomer cruised in his No. 5 singles win 6-1, 6-2, while Eli Stern was very close to putting the Knights over the top with a close 4-6, 5-7 loss in No. 2 singles.

MLC will go on the road on Monday, April 20, when they play Hamline University at 3:30 p.m.