ST. PAUL, Minn.- The expression "quality over quantity" was on full display for the University of Northwestern Men's and Women's Track and Field teams on Wednesday. The Eagles were small in numbers but great in quality of performance at the Joe Sweeney Invitational hosted by St. Thomas.
 
With the biggest meet of the season approaching this upcoming weekend, UNW Head Coach Steve Thiessen was selective about who he sent to the Tommies' event on the first of May. The Eagles are in full "preparation mode" for the conference championship meet that will commence this weekend.
 
Coach Thiessen and his staff sent three Eagles to compete on Wednesday in the final "tune-up" of the spring. Joshua Ringsmuth (Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove) and John Thomas III (St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo) were the pair of Eagle runners that represented UNW's men's squad.
 
Both Ringsmuth and Thomas III ran in one event: the 800M Run. The Mighty Ducks is one of Minnesota's great cinematic creations and most Minnesotans know the phrase "Ducks Fly Together". Well, a slightly less popular (but equally as accurate) phrase is "Eagles Fly Together". That was a very long winded way of saying that Ringsmuth and Thomas III finished in consecutive places in this event. Ringsmuth finished at 2:08.54 which marked an outdoor season best for him and was less than a second off of his career best performance (which came earlier this winter during indoor season). Thomas III was right behind him with a PR of 2:16.03. This was the best time of Thomas III's season and career; and he cleared his previous PR by multiple seconds.
 
The Eagle's women's squad had a lone participant and that was Emily Ashton (Camas, Wash./St. Mary's Academy) in the Javelin Throw. Ashton turned in a huge performance in the prelims and was the top seed in the event entering the finals. In the finals, St. Thomas (an NCAA Division I institution) had an athlete turn in a herculean effort with a throwing distance of 40.10m. This means that Ashton's incredible throw of 37.95m earned her second place overall.
 
After a meet with a reduced cast of characters on Wednesday, the band will be back together this weekend. Coach Thiessen is bringing his entire team out to Morris, Minnesota for the "granddaddy of them all": the 2024 UMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The championship event is a two day ordeal; beginning on Friday, May 3^rd and concluding on Saturday, May 4^th.