The Minnesota Duluth men's track & field team made the trip to Mankato, Minn. on Saturday afternoon for the Minnesota State Open. UMD turned in a number of strong performances and concluded the day with a handful of top five finishes.
"It's important that we take advantage of great early season weather," said Head Coach
Karly Brautigam. "We had PRs and steps in the right direction across all event groups. Trutna's 10k, Kostynick's shot put, and our men's 4x4 highlighted the day. We also had some great middle distance racing."
On the track,
Matthew Trutna's mark of 31:18.86 in the men's 10,000 meter run was good enough for first place on the individual leaderboard. It's also a new PR for Trutna, who's previous personal best in the 10k was 32:58.84. In the men's 800 meter run,
Christian Leonard took home third place in the event after notching a time of 1:52.83. Earlier this season, Leonard broke UMD's school record for fastest time in the men's 800m indoor run. Leonard's mark of 1:53.37 earned himself a school record, a personal best, and a first-place finish at the Snowshoe Open in Minneapolis, Minn.
UMD's 4x400 meter relay team of
Cole Fechner,
Finn Youberg,
Mikey Kvaal and Leonard would then finish second in the event with a mark of 3:22.65. In the field, the Bulldogs received a positive outing from
Colton Kostynick in the men's shot put. Kostynick secured a distance of 15.55 meters, which would be good enough for fifth place on the individual leaderboard.
Up Next
UMD will get back to work on Thursday, April 14 at the Lee Krough Invite in St. Peter, Minn.
