MIchelle Juergen

DE PERE, Wis. — A predictably cold start greeted the Northern Michigan University women’s track and field team for its outdoor season opener in suburban Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Saturday.

But the Wildcats made the best of the elements to win the St. Norbert Invitational with snow and highs in the mid-30s. They scored 254 points, with Michigan Tech and Wisconsin-Stevens Point tying for second with 166 in a field of five women’s teams.

Senior Michelle Juergen set the highlight for NMU by establishing an NCAA Division II national meet provisional qualifying height of 1.68 meters in the high jump after she cleared the same non-metric height at 5-feet-6.

Juergen was also second in the triple jump with a leap of 36-5.5, while sophomore teammate Dunja Drobac won that event at 36-6.75.

The Wildcats also won both hurdles events.

In the 100-meter hurdles, sophomore Nina Augsten clocked a winning time of 15.56 seconds with freshman teammate Kelsie Sibbald of Barbeau second in 17.30 and freshman Taylor Foster third in 17.54.

Junior Megan Martin captured the 400 hurdles in 1:07.04 with senior teammate Lynsey Collins of Escanaba runner-up in 1:07.94.

In the 100, Northern sophomore Lauren Alarie won in 12.41 with senior teammate Jenna Long right behind as runner-up in 12.61.

NMU swept the top three places in the 400, with senior Shayla Huebner of Marquette winning in 57.52, senior Paige Dutcher second in 58.92 and junior Paige Du Bois third in 1:00.89.

In the 3,000 steeplechase, Northern junior Hanna Torvi beat the field by more than three seconds in 11:15.62.

The Wildcats also captured the top two spots in the 4-by-100 relay. The winning team that clocked 48.67 included Alaria, Long, Martin and Izabelle Peterson of Marquette, while the runners-up in 50.57 consisted of Collins, Dutcher, Huebner and junior Sydney McPeters.

Next up for NMU is the Tiffelburg Open, a meet hosted by Tiffin and Heidelberg universities on Saturday in Tiffin, Ohio.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.