LA CROSSE, Wis. – The UW-River Falls men's and women's track & field teams wrapped up competition at the Phil Esten Challenge, hosted by UW-La Crosse, Saturday evening.
The Falcons' performance was headlined by
Lexi LeFever's school record-breaking long jump of 19 feet, 3.25 inches. She broke Nicole Pronchinske's record of 19-1.75 set in 2001. LeFever, the 2021 NCAA DIII national runner-up in the long jump, is also UWRF's indoor long jump record holder.
LeFever also finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.02 to garner five team points.
The women totaled 45.5 points to finish seventh of 18 teams, while the men finished ninth of 18 with 20 points.
On the men's side, the trio of
Alex VanGundy,
Matt Boche, and
Carter Aakre wrapped up the men's decathlon competing in the 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500-meter run. VandGundy finished 17
th with 4,563 points.
Dylan Wachter recorded the top finish for the Falcons, clocking a runner-up time of 48.80 in the 400-meter run. He also finished sixth in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.48.
Outside of LeFever, the Falcon women were led by
Maria Laudenbach and
Kimi Robertson, who both record runner-up finishes.
Laudenbach earned a runner-up time in the 5,000-meter run at 18:38.38. Robertson finished second in the pole vault with an outdoor season-best leap of 11-7.
