DAY TWO RECAP

KENOSHA, Wis. – After several strong performances, the Augustana Vikings men's track & field team sit in first place after day one of the CCIW Outdoor Track & Field Championships with 45 points.

Landon Wierenga and Magnus Wells highlighted a dominant day in the field for the Vikings, going one-two in the hammer throw as Wierenga captured the conference title with a mark of 61.23m while Wells followed in second at 54.39m. Wells added another eight points in the javelin with a runner-up finish at 57.92m, while Wierenga chipped in five more points with a fourth-place throw of 51.93m. In the long jump, freshman Luke Smith placed second with a mark of 6.91m, while Aymane Bargaouz (4.51m) and Tatum Rogers (4.41m) added scoring efforts in the pole vault. Ben Gricius also contributed on the track, placing fifth in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 9:37.99.

On the track, the Vikings saw multiple athletes qualify for Saturday's finals. Tyreke Fortney led the way with the top qualifying times in both the 100m (10.57) and 200m (21.92). In the 110m hurdles, AJ Banks qualified first in 14.50, while Brayden Veil followed in fourth at 15.13 and Bayley Pierce advanced with a time of 15.38. The 400m hurdles proved to be another strength for Augustana, with Pierce leading all qualifiers at 55.85, AJ Banks close behind at 55.98, and both Conner Calhoun (57.62) and Elijah Lara (58.18) advancing to the finals. The decathlon group also put together a solid opening day, highlighted by Josh Vook's first-place finish in the 400m with a time of 53.00

On the women's side, the Vikings sit in third place after day one with 34 points, trailing Carthage (39) and Illinois Wesleyan (38).

Charlotte Frere led the way with a conference title in the hammer throw, winning the event with a mark of 48.99m, while Laina Nelson added a seventh-place finish in the event with a throw of 39.15m. Nelson returned later to win the javelin with a mark of 42.97m, and Amelia Miller added a fourth-place finish at 35.69m to give the Vikings a strong showing in the throws.

On the track, Jordyn VanSanten qualified second in the 400m with a time of 58.22, while Bridget Hecker also advanced with a time of 58.99. In the 800m, Norah Wright qualified in 2:21.41 and Marie Weber followed with a time of 2:23.08 to advance to the finals.

In distance action, Ryan Jednachowski placed fourth in the 10,000m with a time of 37:57.14, while Keira Nelson finished eighth in 39:42.75. In the heptathlon, Khaliah Knox turned in a strong all-around performance, placing third in the 100m hurdles (15.80) and second in the 200m (26.98), while adding marks of 1.46m in the high jump and 8.62m in the shot put.

Both squads return for day two, beginning at 10:30 a.m. with the women's heptathlon 800m and the men's decathlon 110m hurdles.