The Butler men’s and women’s track and field teams competed against the other Big East teams at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, OH. Check out the results from each event along with this year’s individual champions.
Individual Champions
Butler’s 2019 individual champions include junior Euan Makepeace, who won the men’s 3,000 meter run with a time of 8:09.13, and junior Wade Walder, who won the heptathlon with 5,470 points. Walder was just 27 points shy of the Big East record. Following his heptathlon victory, Walder was unanimously named Men’s Most Outstanding Field Performer for this year’s competition.
- Want to know more about Walder? Check out our athlete spotlight on him.
Women’s Track and Field Events
Butler women’s track and field placed fifth overall with a score of 60. They finished two places higher and nearly doubled their score of 31 from the 2018 championship.
The team’s highest event placement came in the Distance Medley. The four-Bulldog squad of sophomore Angelina Ellis, senior Allie Vogeler, freshman Mia Beckham and junior Josephine Thestrup completed the event in 11:43.19, securing second place.
Vogeler also took third place in the women’s 400 meter dash, clocking in at 54.93 seconds. Thestrup and Ellis took sixth (4:51.55) and eighth (4:56.73) respectively in the women’s one mile run. Thestrup placed tenth in the women’s 3,000 meter run.
In the women’s 4×800 meter relay, Ellis, Vogeler, Beckham, and sophomore Camille Hines finished in 9:01.68–good for third place.
Along with that, Hines took fifth place in the women’s 800 meter run (2:11.43).
Another third-place group finish came in the women’s 4×400 meter relay. Junior Madeline Miller, sophomore Rebecca Collester, freshman Angela Neddeau and sophomore Lily Hess completed the event in 3:54.08.
In the women’s 5,000 meter run, freshman Margo Hornocker placed fifth with a time of 17:29.45. She was joined by freshman Maddie McLain, who finished in 17:36.86, good for seventh place. McLain also took part in the women’s 3,000 meter run, in which she finished twelfth (9:58.48).
Freshman Mckenzie Greene took sixth place in the women’s 60 meter hurdles (9.00 seconds).
Freshman Karmen Koch, sophomore Niki Ezeh, and freshman Nina Hilt represented Butler in the women’s pentathlon. Koch finished third with a score of 3387, followed by Ezeh in fourth (3315) and Hilt in eighth (3102).
Koch and Hilt finished eighth (1.55 meters) and ninth (1.50 meters) respectively in the women’s high jump. Ezeh secured fifth in the women’s shot put (13.62 meters).
Men’s Track and Field Events
Butler men’s track and field also improved from last year’s performance, landing in fourth place and scoring 95. In 2018, the team placed fifth and scored 74.
Highest event placements from the men’s team were, of course, the victory by Makepeace in the men’s 3,000 meter run and Walder’s win in the men’s heptathlon.
Freshman Clark Otte also competed in the 3,000 meter run. He finished eleventh with a time of 8:26.94.
Makepeace also took third in the men’s 5,000 meter run, clocking in at 14:20.60. Freshman James Sweeney joined him in this event and finished eleventh (14:46.82).
Three of five competitors in the men’s heptathlon represented Butler. Alongside Walder, senior Richard Clark (third place, 4792) and freshman Luke Hofrichter (fourth place, 3953) also competed.
Walder finished fifth in the men’s 60 meter hurdles. His time was 8.40 seconds. Sophomore Garrett Kern finished just behind him in sixth, an 8.45 second run.
Walder also placed fifth in the men’s pole vault, clearing 4.45 meters, and ninth in the men’s shot put, throwing 13.31 meters.
Senior Johnny Leverenz brought home second in the men’s 800 meter run with a time of 1:50.23. Leverenz also competed in the men’s 4×800 meter relay alongside Sweeney, sophomore Chandler McGaha and junior Eric Baugh. The four-Bulldog squad finished sixth in 7:39.17.
Leverenz, McGaha, and Baugh also participated in the men’s distance medley, along with junior Connor Fuller. This group secured fourth, clocking in at 10:02.30.
In the men’s long jump, junior Luke Russell took second place, jumping 7.09 meters. Senior Sam Robinson also took part in this event; he placed fifth with a 6.94 meter jump.
Russell and Robinson also competed in the men’s high jump, along with Clark. Robinson finished fifth (J1.95 meters), Clark finished tenth (J1.80 meters), and Russell took eleventh (J1.80 meters).
Clark placed third in the men’s 60 yard dash. He clocked in at 7.01 seconds.
In the men’s 4×400 meter relay, Fuller, senior Jake Kellersohn, junior Jake Bowers and sophomore Jacob Uhl teamed up to represent the Dawgs. They took home fifth with a time of 3:18.80.
Uhl finished fourth place in the men’s 400 meter dash with a time of 48.32 seconds.
Up Next
The Butler men’s and women’s track and field teams will both take part in the Stan Lyons Invitational in Indianapolis on March 16, 2019. Until then, the Dawgs will have a break from competition.
