Waldorf’s Wotoe qualifies for indoor nationals in long jump
Posted by Waldorf Sports Information Director on Feb 20, 2017 in Cross Country, News, Women's Sports | 0 comments
BROOKINGS, S.D. – Waldorf University women’s track and field standout Markai Wotoe only needed one meet to punch her ticket to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Indoor National Championships.
Wotoe qualified for nationals in the long jump during Saturday’s North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) Indoor Championships, capturing first place in the event with a distance of 5.40 meters (17 feet, 8.75 inches). The redshirt freshman from Minneapolis hit the national-qualifying B standard in the event, broke the previous indoor school record by 0.12 meters (4.72 inches) and contributed 10 points toward Waldorf’s fourth-place finish in the team standings.
“For her first meet, to do what she did is pretty good,” Waldorf coach Nathan Christianson said. “It was cool seeing a smile on her face and she was just happy to be there. It’s fun coaching kids like that.”
The Warriors racked up 40 points in the team standings, improving by 19 points and one spot from last year’s conference indoor meet.
“Obviously, you want to go out there and beat as many teams as you can,” Christianson said. “We knew we were limited with our numbers.”
The University of Jamestown won the team title with 203 points. Dickinson State University (154) claimed second while Viterbo University (102), Waldorf (40), Valley City State University (39) and Dakota State University (15) completed the team standings.
“Valley City State is an up-and-coming team as well and we were bouncing back and forth with them the entire meet,” Christianson said. “The girls took the challenge. With a young program, you’ve got to find any positives you can find as you grow a program.”
It was an all-out battle by Wotoe, freshmen Taylor Navratil and Kaila Jackson in the 60-meter dash. Wotoe chased down third in the event, clocking a time of 8.16 seconds to earn all-conference honors and six points. Navratil charged to fourth (8.20) for four points and Jackson fought to fifth (8.21) to secure two points.
“The 60 was great,” Christianson said. “They came out and stepped up. That’s going to be a great foundation for our program. Those three are going to be doing good stuff for us in the future. It was fantastic watching those ladies race.”
Wotoe set a new indoor school record during the 60-meter dash prelims, qualifying third (8.12) to eclipse the previous mark by 0.09 seconds. Jackson ran to fourth (8.14) in the prelims while Navratil qualified sixth (8.19). Wotoe and Navratil topped the previous indoor school record in both 60-meter dash performances. Jackson bested the mark in the prelims and matched it in the finals.
In Wotoe’s first meet of the indoor season, she helped account for 19 points.
“It was a pretty solid day,” Christianson said. “I don’t always like putting people in four events during their first competition, but she came out and handled it well. That helps the team and it’s going to help grow our program.”
Jackson raced to fourth (26.81) in the 200 to score six points and set a personal-record time by 0.3 seconds. Wotoe pulled in sixth (27.40) to contribute one point.
Navratil earned sixth in the 400, turning in a time of 1 minute, 3.86 seconds to notch one point. She improved her indoor school record by 0.76 seconds.
Waldorf junior Danielle Holt locked up fifth (10.11) in the 60 high hurdles to provide two points. She qualified sixth (10.21) in the prelims and brought down her previous indoor school-record time of 10.25 seconds in both races.
The 4×400 relay team of Jackson, freshman Marissa Kuik, Navratil and Wotoe teamed up for fifth (4:30.72) to score two points and shattered the indoor school record by 7.18 seconds.
Waldorf’s 4×800 relay team of sophomore Patricia Molina, freshman Katelynn Ramirez, junior Bailey Matthaidess and Kuik placed fourth (12:47.76) to tally four points and crush the previous indoor school record by 20.68 seconds.
Freshman MacKinze Thill-Urbanek improved her indoor school record in the weight throw for the Warriors, recording an 11.19-meter (36-foot-8.50-inch) performance to top her previous mark by 0.38 meters (1 foot, 2.96 inches).
Waldorf freshman Jennifer Plancarte set personal records in the shot put and weight throw. Plancarte tossed the shot 8.94 meters (29 feet, 4 inches) to better her past PR by 0.08 meters (3.14 inches). She recorded a distance of 10.46 meters (34 feet, 4 inches) in the weight throw, improving by 0.04 meters (1.57 inches).
Sophomore Kelli Wallace also delivered a personal-record performance for the Warriors in the weight throw, hitting a mark of 10.85 meters (35 feet, 7.25 inches) to surpass her previous best effort by 0.36 meters (1 foot, 2.17 inches).
Molina took fourth in the pentathlon with 2,161 points during the NSAA Indoor Multi Championships on Sunday at Jamestown, N.D. to give Waldorf four points heading into Saturday’s meet. She claimed fifth (11.74) in the 60 high hurdles for 421 points, leaped to third in the high jump as she cleared the bar at 1.35 meters (4 feet, 5 inches) for 460 points and nabbed fourth in the shot put with a 7.46-meter (24-foot-5.75-inch) throw for 365 points. Molina placed fourth in the long jump with a distance of 4.50 meters (14 feet, 9.25 inches) for 428 points and closed out the pentathlon by racing to third (2:47.78) in the 800 for 487 points.
In a strong performance, Waldorf continued to further solidify its presence in the NSAA.
“The kids know we don’t have the biggest depth in the world, but they’re going out and fighting,” Christianson said. “It’s fun to watch the kids put it out there. I’m really impressed with how we hung our hat.”
While the indoor season is over for Wotoe’s teammates, she still has the NAIA Indoor National Championships ahead of her. Though nationals will only be Wotoe’s second meet of the season, she’s seemingly flying under the radar.
“It’s cool to have somebody like that who’s only done one or two meets because when they get to nationals, nobody knows who they are and there’s no pressure,” Christianson said. “That’s sometimes when kids do their best is when there’s no pressure on them.”
The NAIA Indoor National Championships are set for March 2-4, beginning at 1 p.m. at Johnson City, Tenn. Wotoe will compete in the long jump on March 3 at 1 p.m.
“I know she’s excited,” Christianson said. “She’s super talented and competitive. I’m just really excited to see what she can do at the national championships. Obviously, with just one meet under her belt I think she’s going to improve a lot more at nationals.”