University of St. Francis head track and field coach Drew Ludtke begins his third season directing the Saints’ women’s program and, like the state lottery, the numbers keep getting bigger – in athletes, that is, and not in minutes and seconds.
The Saints reignited a track and field program that had steadily declined in numbers prior to Ludtke’s arrival. With the support of the university and the hiring of Ludtke as the school’s first full-time track and field coach, the numbers on the squad began to grow.
Ludtke’s first team in 2005-06 had fewer than 10 athletes participating in the spring outdoor season. A busy recruiting year followed and Ludtke had a brand new team in 2006 that featured 14 freshmen. This year’s squad is up to 21 members with nine returning athletes from a year ago. Clearly, the growth of the squad is a step in a positive direction for the Saints’ program.
“It is a great feeling to finally have some returning and committed athletes in our program,” says Ludtke. “We had an outstanding freshman class last year and sent one runner (Meghan Bannatz) to the NAIA outdoor national meet. We have the core of that group back plus another group of freshmen and transfers that will give us the chance to field entrants in almost every event when we go to meets this winter and spring.”
Ludtke feels that the strengths of his team lie in the hurdles, sprints and middle distances. Those are also the deepest areas on the USF roster.
Sprints and hurdles
The Horn sisters – sophomore identical twins Jessica and Jennifer – return to lead the Saints’ sprinter and hurdlers.
Jessica established a USF school record in the 100-meter hurdles during her freshman outdoor season with a time of 16.85 seconds. She also posted the team’s best time in the 200 meters and was part of the Saints’ fastest teams in both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
Jennifer was also a part of those two top relay quartets and was right behind her sister in both the hurdles and the 200 meters.
“Jess and Jen are not only very valuable members of our team, but they also are two of the best leaders on the squad. They are so versatile and will help us score points in the smaller meets in a number of events. I plan to use both of them in the long jump, the sprints and the hurdles. They are poised to have great seasons.”
In addition to the twins, Ludtke will also enter freshmen Allison Osborne and Kristy King and multi-event athletes Jen Beard, Katie Puleo and Emily Newberg in the sprinting events. Beard, the Saints’ top returning thrower in the discus and hammer, also recorded USF’s fastest time in the 100-meter dash last spring with a mark of 14.26.
Freshman Jessica Palmer was expected to compete in the hurdles this season but will miss the year as a medical redshirt. She was an all-state performer as a prep in the state of Michigan last year.
Middle distances
Freshman Brittany McAllister will likely lead the Saints in the 800 meters and will also run the 400 and participate in some relays.
“Brittany gives us a runner that can score points at a variety of distances,” says Ludtke. “She will be a fine addition to our squad.”
Freshman Tori Albrecht – who will miss the indoor season since she also plays on the USF women’s basketball team – will also run the 400 for USF. Aprille Froelich, another freshman, earned all-state honors at that distance for Amboy (Ill.) High School last spring. Sophomore Puleo ran the 800 and the relays and participated in the long and triple jumps as a freshman but may also be utilized in the 400 this spring.
At 800 meters, Ludtke has a number of runners to choose from when he fills out his entry lists this season. McAllister is a top candidate, with returning sophomores Sarah Jacob, Sarah Kielbasa, Renae Batsch and Puleo who all ran the 800 last season. Freshmen Courtney Burns, Jen Crouse, Danielle Menzynski and Lisa Stolzenbach also can be utilized at that distance.
Ludtke will call upon several of those same runners to compete in the mile and/or 1500 meters. He will also use three-time NAIA national qualifier (twice in cross country and once in outdoor track) Maghan Bannatz at that distance as well.
Distances
Bannatz, a sophomore from Novi, Mich., competed in the 10,000 meters at last spring’s NAIA Championships in Fresno, Calif. She qualified for the national meet after setting a USF school-record with a time of 38:55.80 in her only 10,000 race of the regular season at the Hillsdale (Mich.) Relays. She also notched school records in both the 3000 and 5000 meters. She is clearly the best of the USF distance corps.
“Meghan has a chance to be a four-time national qualifier in both cross country and track,” says Ludtke, “and she will just go on breaking her own school records as she continues to improve with each season.”
Jacob and freshman Nilma Ortiz are also ticketed for action in the longer distances for the Saints this season. Jacob owned the second-best times behind Bannatz in both the 3000 and 5000 as a freshman a year ago.
Jumps
The Horns concentrated on just the hurdles and sprints as freshmen but will add the long jump to their list of events this spring. Puleo and Newberg were the only two jumpers the Saints employed in 2007 and both will compete again this year. Puleo has worked in both the long and triple jumps, while Newberg has concentrated solely on the triple jump. Puleo authored the top marks in both events for the Saints last year.
Throws
Beard broke the USF school marks in both the discus (115-1) and the hammer (116-8) last season as a frosh and will anchor the Saints’ efforts in those events again this season.
“Beard is the unique athlete that can throw in the hammer and discus and then walk over to the starting line and run the 100 meters for you,” says Ludtke. “She can be very effective for us in the smaller, team-scoring meets.”
Transfer Stacie Klawun, a sophomore in track eligibility, will join the track squad at the conclusion of the basketball season. She will participate in both the shot put and discus for the Saints.
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