DWU's Abby Magnuson claims GPAC indoor shot put title
Feb. 19—YANKTON — Abby Magnuson led a trio of high-placing Dakota Wesleyan athletes at the Great Plains Athletic Conference indoor track and field championships, bringing home the women's shot put title for the Tigers.
Magnuson, a senior from Buxton, North Dakota, entered the conference competition with the top overall distance and defended her seed with a heave of 14.63 meters (48 feet) on her second-to-last attempt.
The effort bested second-place Claire Caspersen, of the College of Saint Mary, who had two throws of 14.24 meters (46-8.75). Magnuson and Caspersen were the only two competitors to eclipse 13.64 meters, recording seven total throws of at least 14 meters.
Magnuson's first-place finish earned all 10 total points earned by DWU in the women's team standings. Concordia (206 points) won the GPAC women's team title, with Doane (136.25) and Dordt (100) rounding out the top three. DWU finished 11th out of 12 teams, ahead of Briar Cliff.
On the men's side, Hunter Shanks took third place in the 800-meter run, while Caleb Sayler earned a fourth-place finish in the one-mile run and was seventh in the 1,000-meter run.
Shanks, a senior from Bennington, Nebraska, crossed in 1 minute, 57.52 seconds, just behind the Dordt duo of Payton Mauldin (1:56.64) and Isaac Davelaar (1:57.19).
Sayler, a junior from Lennox, posted a time of 4:16.08 in the mile, which was one by Dordt's Craig Becker (4:13.24). Freeman Academy product Thaniel Schroeder, also of Dordt, finished third in 4:16.03. In the 1,000 meters, Sayler recorded a mark of 2:37.88, while Concordia's Calvin Rohde won in 2:34.93.
Magnuson, Shanks and Sayler are all qualified for the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held Feb. 29-March 2 in Brookings at South Dakota State University's Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.
Also among DWU's all-GPAC honorees with top-eight finishes, Nate Rupprecht was fifth in men's heptathlon (4,320 points), won by Mount Marty's Mason Schleis (4,636). Rupprecht's best event finish in the heptathlon was in the shot put, first place at 12.65 meters.
Shanks and Rupprecht were joined by Barrett Nielsen and Quenton Walls as DWU took seventh in the men's 4x400-meter relay in 3:30.79. Dordt won the relay race in 3:23.68.
With 19 team points, the DWU men finished seventh of 11 schools. Doane (195 points) topped the standings, with Dordt (167) as the lone other team to reach 100 points.
