RIPON, Wis. -- The Ripon College men's and women's track and field teams opened the indoor season Friday evening by hosting the Red Hawk Opener inside the Willmore Center, turning in a strong slate of performances across sprints, distance, hurdles, and field events.
The women were led by a dominant showing in the mile, as sophomore Joley Berger (Dunbar, Wis., Pembine HS) claimed first place with a time of 5:08.03. Senior Jenny Cortes (Round Lake, Ill., Round Lake HS) followed close behind in second at 5:15.51, while the Red Hawks placed five runners inside the top eight of the event. Cortes also earned a third-place finish in the 800 meters, crossing the line in 2:22.32, while Berger added a fourth-place finish in the same race.
Ripon picked up a win on the track in the women's 4x200 relay, as the quartet of freshman Ren Fritz (Bozeman, Mont., Gallatin HS), junior Madylyn Woyak (Wautoma, Wis., Wautoma HS), junior Sidney Hoffa (Coloma, Wis., Westfield Area HS), and sophomore Tatum Trudell (Albany, Ore., South Albany HS) finished first with a time of 1:48.28. Hoffa continued her strong night by placing second in the 60-meter dash finals with a time of 8.26, while Trudell secured a sixth-place finish in the 400 meters.
In the field, junior Chloe Studinski (Oshkosh, Wis., Lourdes Academy) won the women's high jump by clearing 1.55 meters, while junior Heleyna Weiss (Cedarburg, Wis., Living Word Lutheran HS) earned a third-place finish in the long jump at 4.91 meters. Senior Nicole Arnhold (Hampton, N.Y., Granville HS) added a fourth-place result in the triple jump.
On the men's side, junior Zak Ladage (Chatham, Ill., Lutheran HS) opened the season with a win in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing first in 8.72. Freshman Erik Woodward (Juda, Wis., Broadhead-Juda HS) placed second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.09 and later added a fourth-place finish in the 200 meters. Sophomore Aiden Brobst (Freeport, Ill., Freeport HS) led Ripon in the 800 meters, finishing third at 2:02.92, while freshman Michael Corral Rasco (Aurora, Colo., Vista Peak Preparatory) followed in fourth.
Junior Noah Hanson (Ripon, Wis., Ripon HS) highlighted the throws for the Red Hawks, placing fifth in the shot put with a mark of 14.12 meters. Juniors Pierce Krowas (Kaukauna, Wis. Fox Valley Lutheran HS) and Braedy Picard (Neenah, Wis., Xavier HS) added scoring finishes in the weight throw, finishing seventh and eighth, respectively.
Ripon returns to action next weekend at the Squig Converse Invite + Multi hosted by UW-Whitewater, with the men competing Friday, Jan 30 at 4pm, and the women competing Saturday, Jan 31 at 11am.
