OXFORD, Ohio - The Lake Superior State men's and women's track and field teams opened the 2021 outdoor season with an impressive performance at the 2021 Blizzard Buster hosted by Miami University in Oxford, Ohio on Saturday, March 20. With the 2020 spring outdoor season being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Blizzard Buster marked the first collegiate competition for many Lakers in outdoor track & field.
Running Events
In the women's 100 meter dash, Nadya Woodson would record a personal best time of 13.58 in the event. Elizabeth Setsuda would have a strong race in the 200m distance as she set a personal record in outdoor competition with a time of 25.98.
Continuing the team's success in the running events were Alexis Passino and Caitlyn Schumann as both set personal records. Passino recorded a time of 2:28.63 in the 800m distance while posted a time Schumann's of 2:54.73 in the same event.
In the men's 200 meter dash, Riley Traver placed fifth with a time of 23.13. The Lakers four runners in the 800 meter distance had solid showings as Peter Shambaugh finished in eighth place among all participants with a 2:01.67 time. Freshman Roy Bowman ran a time of 2:04.14 while Kevin Garland recorded a time of 2:10:31. Eric Somsky recorded a personal best time of 2:20.40 in the 800 meter distance.
David Mitter set a new school record in the men's 5,000 meter distance with a time of 14:38.98 as he placed second in the event at the Blizzard Buster. It marks the third time in 2021 that Mitter has bested a Lake Superior State record.
Field Events
In the women's high jump event, Riley Collins finished in seventh place with a height of 1.58 meters in her first outdoor meet of the year.
The Laker women secured three of the top ten finishes in the long jump with Setsuda leading the way with a distance of 5.16 meters to place sixth among participants. Ashley Mullings finished one spot behind Setsuda as she posted a distance of 5.03 meters. Breanyl Baker rounded out the strong Laker showing in the event as she finished ninth with a jump of 4.66 meters.
In one of the many highlights for the Lakers during the day, freshman Jenna Fleming competed in the javelin for the first time collegiately. Fleming set a new school record in her first collegiate meet with a throw of 45.16 meters, as she bested the previous LSSU record set by Jill Walton on May 1, 2008 (39.19m). Fleming, who placed second in the Blizzard Buster, provisionally qualified for Nationals as she surpassed the qualifying mark of 41.84 meters. At the close of the day, Fleming's throw ranks seventh in all of Division II.
The men's throwers, Timothy Howes and Ryan Reiniche, had a great meet for the Lakers with both setting at least one personal record at the Blizzard Buster.
Howes registered personal records in all three throwing events, beginning with an 11.66m mark in the shot put. In the discus, Howes threw a distance of 37.98m for a personal best in the event and ended with a 40.36m mark in the hammer throw
Reiniche placed ninth in the discus throw with a distance of 43.03 meters for his own personal best in the event.
The full list of results can be found here.
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