It was the fourth straight time the Wildcats finished in the top five at the event, matching a program mark previously set from 2008-09 to 2011-12.

Grand Valley State won the women’s meet with 248 points, followed by Saginaw Valley State with 183 and Ashland with 122 1/2. After NMU came Davenport in fifth with 55 1/2 and Wayne State with 50. Totaling less than 25 points each were Ferris State, Lake Superior State, Michigan Tech, Wisconsin-Parkside and Northwood.

GVSU also won the men’s meet with 300 1/2 with Ashland second with 216 1/2 in a 10-team meet.

On Friday, Johnson leapt 11.85 meters (38-feet-10.5) to earn NMU the winner’s share of 10 points at the meet. She outjumped runner-up Miyuki Sugiyama by more than two feet, or nearly three-quarters of a meter (11.17 meters, 36-feet-7.8). In fact, of Johnson’s six listed jumps, the first five each would have earned her first place with other leaps not used of 11.44, 11.61, 11.72, 11.68 and 10.65 meters.

Nina Augsten

Senior teammate Dunja Drobac was fourth in the same event with 10.60 meters (34-9.5) while NMU freshman Leah Root was seventh at 10.04 meters (32-11.25).

Thursday’s highlight was a second-place finish in the seven-event heptathlon by senior Nina Augsten with her 4,207-point total. Teammate Maddie Campbell was fifth in the heptathlon with 3,998. Augusten’s best finishes were second in the javelin and 100-meter hurdles, third in the long jump and fourth in the 800.

Augsten was also sixth in the regular 100 hurdles in 14.91 and seventh in the regular javelin with 31.69 meters (104-0).

Junior Izabelle Peterson, a Marquette Senior High School graduate, on Friday was fourth in the 200 in 24.91 seconds and fifth in the 100 in 12.23.

In Friday’s high jump, Campbell was fifth after clearing 1.58 meters (5-2.25), while also Friday, the Wildcats’ 4-by-400 relay of Lauren Alarie, Jovana Vukas, Hannah Jones and Sydney Romps was fifth in 4 minutes, 3.56 seconds.

Izabelle Peterson

A trio of NMU athletes placed sixth on Thursday. Ellise Longley did it in the 3,000 steeplechase in 11:34.27, sophomore Meghan Langworth in the 10,000 in 37:45.37 and Ninti Little in the long jump by leaping 5.43 meters (17-9.75).

More sixth-place finishes followed on Friday — junior Anna Kelley in the 1,500 in 4:54.34 and Romps in the 400 hurdles in 1:07.03.

Coming in seventh on Friday was the Wildcats’ 4-by-100 relay of Little, Peterson, Alarie and Maria de Mingo Domenech in 50.72, while placing eighth that day was freshman Anni Skillicorn in the 1,500 in 4:57.88.

Information compiled by Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee and Journal Sports Writer Ryan Stieg. Email them at sports@miningjournal.net.