Milwaukee's Schmidt and Novacek, Valpo's Drozdowski and YSU's Morales Secure Outdoor Track and Field Weekly Honors

Indianapolis – Milwaukee senior Jordan Schmidt (Appleton, Wis.) and sophomore Kate Novacek (Waukesha, Wis.) have been named Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Runners of the Week while Youngstown State sophomore Arnaldo Morales (Struthers, Ohio) and Valparaiso senior Sarah Drozdowski (Roselle, Ill.) have been named Horizon League Men’s and Women’s Athletes of the Week for the period of March 30-April 5.

Schmidt was one of the top performers at the EIU Big Blue Classic this past week. The UWM senior won the 400 meter hurdle event with a time of 52.36. Schmidt’s effort in the 400 meter hurdles is the top time in the Horizon League this season by over three seconds. The Appleton, Wis., native finished six out of 33 runners in the 100 meter hurdle with a Horizon League-best time of 14.49. He also competed in the 200 meter run, finishing 12th out of 60 competitors.

Novacek competed in the 200 meter and 400 meter events at the EIU Big Blue Classic. She finished second out of 49 runners in the 400 meter event with a time of 55.86. She was just shy of a personal best and her time is the best in the Horizon League this year. She finished with a time of 25.17 in the 200 meter race to finish 14th out of 70 runners. Her time is the third best in the Horizon League this season.

Morales won the high jump and had a career-best performance in the long jump in last week’s Northeast Ohio Quad meet. He won the high jump with a jump of 6’ 11.5”. It’s the top jump in the Horizon League this year. He finished sixth in the long jump with a distance of 21’ 2.75”.

Drozdowski won two events and finished third in another at the DePauw Invitational. She won the shot put with a throw of 13.27 meters. She bettered the second-best shot put mark in school history by .20 meter. She also won the hammer throw with a distance of 51.45 meters. She out threw the field by 4.26 meters and has the best mark in the Horizon League this season. She finished third in the discus with a throw of 37.47 meters.

Top Runners of the Week:
Tiffany Barnes, Youngstown State (Jr., Riverdale, Ga.) – Barnes placed second in the 100m dash at the NE Ohio Quad and ninth in the 200m dash.
Emmanuel Gamez, UIC (Jr., Crystal Lake, Ill.) – Gamez finished 17th in the 400m (50.54) and 31st in the 200m (22.62) events at the Big Blue Classic.
Allison Garner, Detroit (Jr., South Bend, Ind.) – Garner won the 100m dash and placed second in the 200m dash at the dual-meet vs. Oakland.
Anthony Franze, Valparaiso (So., Gunter, Texas) – Franze set season-best times in both the 200m (23.05) and 100m (11.29) events at the DePauw Invitational.
Austin McLean, Youngstown State (Jr., West Jefferson, Ohio) – McLean posted a career-best and second-fastest time in school history in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 8:53.17. It’s the best time in the HL this season by over 33 seconds.
Kaley Moss, Wright State (Jr., Urbana, Ohio) – Moss finished second in the 400m hurdles (1:04.68) at the Ohio Cherry Blossom Invitational.
Khalil Parris, Detroit (So., Windosr, Ontario) – Parris won the 400m dash by over one second in UDM’s dual-meet versus Oakland.
Hannah Reynard, Valparaiso (Fr., Jackson, Mich.) – Reynard set the fourth fastest time in the 400m hurdles (1:04.77) and fifth fastest in the 100m hurdles (16.00) in school history at last week’s DePauw Invitational.
Serena San Cartier, Oakland (Sr., Sudbury, Ontario) – San Cartier won two individual races, set a dual-meet record and recorded the top-time in the HL in the 100m hurdles (14.23) this year.
Brittany Schwarz, UIC (So., Dixon, Ill.) – Schwarz finished the Big Blue Classic with a time of 2:27.81 in the 800m and 4:51.09 in the 1500m events.
Bryce Stroede, Oakland (So., Horton, Mich.) – Stroede won two events and set a dual meet record in the 3,000m with a time of 8:31.30 in Oakland’s competition versus Detroit. He also won the 1-mile run with a time of 4:26.29.

Top Athletes of the Week:
Ashley Bayles, Detroit (So., Adrian, Mich.) – Bayles set a meet record in the shot put with a throw 13.32m and also won the discus with a throw of 38.17m and finished second in the hammer throw.
Colin Cashner, Detroit (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) – Cashner set a meet record and Titan Field facility record in the hammer throw with a toss 62.28m.
Alex Chollet, Milwaukee (Sr., Aurora, Ill.) – Chollet’s shot put mark of 16.17m stands fifth in school history and second in the HL this season. His discus throw of 50.46m placed him sixth at the Big Blue Classic and second in the HL this season.
Jacob Frey, Valparaiso (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.) – Frey won the hammer throw, besting his own school record by .17m with a toss of 57.20m. He finished third in the discus with a throw of 46.58m.
Sherice Hewett, Milwaukee (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis.) – Hewett finished sixth in the triple jump and 13th in the 100m hurdles at the Big Blue Classic.
Matthew Jordan, Oakland (Fr., Woodhaven, Mich.) – Jordan won the long jump with a jump of 6.27 meters in the dual-meet vs. Detroit.
Hayley McDonald, Oakland (Jr., Zeeland, Mich.) – McDonald won the long jump with a distance of 5.06m in the dual-meet vs. Detroit.
Jessica Parham, Youngstown State (Sr., McMurray, Pa.) – Parham finished second in the javelin at the NE Ohio Quad with a throw of 43.90m.
Desirae Ranberg, UIC (So., Wheaton, Ill.) – Ranberg finished 20th in the hammer throw and 28th in discus at the Big Blue Classic.
Natassia Roberts, Wright State (Jr., Xenia, Ohio) – Roberts won the discus throw, finished second in the shot put, third in the javelin throw and seventh in the hammer throw at the Ohio Cherry Blossom Invitational.
Shaun Wollenweber, UIC (Fr., Plano, Ill.) – Wollenweber finished fourth out of 17 competitors at the Big Blue Classic in the shot put with a throw of 13.98 meters.