Owen, DeWolf, men’s DMR on to finals

BROOKINGS, S.D. (March 5, 2020) – Bekah Owen and Avery DeWolf started the Milligan College track & field team's indoor national championships with a productive day, each advancing to the final of the women's 5000-meter run Thursday at Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex. Sam Wehner, Ronan Philippot, Alex Windham and Nathan Baker continued the day with equal success by advancing to the final of the men's distance medley relay.

"There's really nothing more I could have asked from this group on day one," Head Coach Chris Layne said. "I think it was so important for the ladies to set the right tone in the 5k, and they did that so this gives everyone else confidence to know they're ready to compete."

Owen and DeWolf both ran personal bests and finished in the top four of their heat to secure a spot in the final, which is set to take place Saturday. Owen ran 17:40.85 in heat one before DeWolf turned in 17:41.67 in heat two. The two came in seeded 10th and 12th, respectively, but ran the sixth and seventh fastest times in the 28-woman race.

"I was so proud of (Bekah and Avery's) composure in the 5k," Layne said. "They both put themselves in a good position early on so they were able to respond when the races started to move."

Wehner, Philippot, Windham and Baker made their way into the final with a time of 10:08.69, the second fastest in program history and quick enough for the fourth fastest preliminary time. They placed second in heat two, less than one second off the top time, which came out of heat one.

"Sam really set the tone for us in the DMR," Layne said, "so rather than having to play catch-up, Nathan got the baton just off the lead and he was able to slide up there pretty quickly and then just settle in and secure the automatic qualifier."

Owen and DeWolf will run the final of the women's 5k national championship Saturday at 4:35 p.m. Eastern Time. The men's DMR will run the final Saturday at 5:40 p.m. Prior to that, a handful of Buffs will open their 2020 indoor championship with semifinals of their events on Friday. Tim Thacker is set to start the day in the mile at 1:20 p.m. Rasheem Brown (1:50 p.m./60-meter hurdles), Erica Stone (4:15 p.m./1000 meters), Katlyn Haas, Gabrielle Mardis and Hannah Bell (4:55 p.m./3000 meters), and Nathan Baker, Sam Wehner and Jake Crow (5:15 p.m./3000 meters) round the day out.