RedTail Men’s Track and Field tie for fifth place at the Mississippi River Rumble

DUBUQUE–The RedTail Men's Track and Field tied with Viterbo, Wisconsin at the Mississippi River Rumble on April 6, 2024, where they came in fifth place and scored 35 points. Head coach Scott Robers said that considering the weather, "We are very proud of these results." It was cold and windy for their meet.

Starting with the 100-meter dash, sophomore Caden Stimmel came in 20th place with a time of 11.22 seconds, which is a personal record. His teammates were not far behind him, as sophomore Liam Carlson came in 22nd place with a time of 11.27 seconds and sophomore Alec Schneider ran a time of 11.40 seconds giving him 25th place. Freshman Carter Even ran a time of 11.59, and he got 34th place, and sophomore Benjamin Hansen ran a 12.36 in 48th place. 

The RedTails had four athletes get personal records in the 200-meter dash. Liam Carlson came in 12th place with a time of 22.92 seconds. Caden Stimmel ran 23.03 and got 15th place. Alec Schneider came in 17th (23.23 seconds) and sophomore Kasey Wirtjes came in 37th place with a time of 24.90 seconds.

The 400-meter dash was an exciting race; freshman Sean Knockel ran 51.44 seconds giving him 10th place overall. Freshman Kaden Miller got 12th place (51.53 seconds). 

For our mid-distance runners, sophomore Jess Cornick had a great run in the 800-meter dash. He had a personal record with a time of 1:59.67 giving him seventh place. Sophomore Brennen Sager also had a personal record in the 800-meter dash scoring 11th place (2:02.36). Austin Langreck came in 23rd place with a time of 2:14.01. 

Moving on to the hurdle events, Kasey Wirtjes got 11th place (16.51) in the 110-meter hurdles set at 42 inches. Kenny Cutler was not far behind with a time of 16.57, which is his personal record. He came in 13th place. Sophomore Tyler Bartels came in 18th place (18.08). 

The 400-meter hurdles was a very exciting race, and Kenny Cutler came in second place overall. He ran a time of 57.38 seconds. 

The relay teams did very well in their races. In the 4x100 relay Kenny Cutler, Evan Kearney, Alec Schneider, and Liam Carlson came in fifth place with a time of 42.74 seconds. The 4x400-meter relay was Kenny Cutler, Evan Kearney, Kaden Miller, and Sean Knockel. They came in fourth place with a time of 3:27.22. 

Now onto the field events, in the shot put freshman Adam Smith had a personal record of 14.18 meters. He came in 10th place, and sophomore Tino Tamayo was just one place behind him throwing 14.15 meters. Sophomore Tyler Bartels also got a personal best throwing a 9.43, which gave him 25th place. 

Adam Smith had another personal record in discus, where he threw 46.22 meters. This gave him seventh place overall. 

Sophomore Brandt Williams had a personal record in the javelin throw, where he got third place. He threw 50.95 meters, and this also qualified him for the NJCAA Outdoor Nationals. 

Brandt Williams had another personal record in the hammer throw. He scored in 10th place (45.68 meters). Tino Tamayo got a personal record at 44.51 meters (14th place), and sophomore Beau  Brackenmeyer received a personal record at 42.04 meters (17th place). 

Overall, it was good competition for our RedTails, and they are excited to continue to get better. Roberts said, "We were overall pleased with the performance. This is a good early season meet and good early season test for us."The next meet will be on April 12, 2024, at Drake University for the Jim Duncan Invite, and some of the team will head to Mount Vernon, Iowa for the Cornell Invitational. Go RedTails!