ELSAH, Ill. - Columbia College freshman Brianna Haller won the women's 1,000-meter run, while Williams Woods junior Matt Fringer and sophomore Hunter Carpenter finished first in the men's distance medley relay Saturday at the American Midwest Conference Championships, hosted by Principia College.
Haller (Fatima High School) posted a winning time of 3:17.82 in the 1,000. She also took runner-up in the 5,000-meter run in 19:03.62 and finished fourth in the 3,000-meter run in 10:56.08.
Other area athletes competing in the 1,000 with Haller were William Woods freshman Alicia Engelbrecht (Helias High School), who was third in 3:24.52; William Woods sophomore Harley Nale (Linn High School), who placed fourth in 3:24.83; and William Woods junior Ryan Esterline (Jefferson City High School).
Fringer (Russellville High School) and Carpenter (California High School) helped the Owls to a time of 11:14.42 to win the distance medley.
Carpenter also ran on the Owls' 4x800-meter relay, which finished third in 8:41.33, and competed in the 800-meter run, placing seventh in 2:09.82.
Fringer took 11th in the 1,000 with a time of 2:55.74.
Also competing in the men's distance medley relay were Columbia College sophomore Alex Krieg, Williams Baptist sophomore Jacob Whittle and Missouri Baptist junior Brian Jordan.
Krieg (Fatima High School) and the Cougars finished second in 11:20.21, followed by Whittle (Eldon High School) and the Eagles in third in 11:24.67. Jordan (School of the Osage High School) helped the Spartans to a seventh-place time of 12:06.04.
Whittle also helped Williams Baptist to a second-place time of 3:38.41 in the men's 4x400-meter relay. Individually, he finished sixth in the 400-meter dash (52.79 seconds) and 25th in the 200-meter dash (24.66 seconds).
William Woods finished second in the women's distance medley relay. Senior Justice Miller (Russellville High School), Nale and Engelbrecht helped the Owls to a time of 13:38.59. Columbia College freshman Halie Moeller (Fatima High School) and the Cougars took fifth in the relay with a time of 14:25.82.
Esterline and Nale also competed on the Owls' 4x800-meter relay, which took second with a time of 10:48.43. In the women's 4x400, Miller and sophomore Naomi Kerkula (Jefferson City High School) led William Woods to a time-place time of 4:25.31, while Moeller helped the Cougars to a fourth-place finish in 4:28.79.
Moeller also took second in the women's pole vault, clearing a height of 8 feet, 9.5 inches, and placed eighth in the 400 in 1:07.20.
Columbia College freshman Harrison Frank (Russellville High School) took third in the men's 800-meter run in 2:06.95, while Engelbrecht finished third in the women's mile run in 5:46.06.
Missouri Baptist senior Andrea Hughes (Jefferson City High School) finished fourth in both of her throwing events. She threw 40-4.25 in the women's shot put and 42-9.5 in the weight throw.
Also scoring points were William Woods junior Damian Miller (Russellville High School), who took fifth in the men's pole vault with a height of 12-6.75, and Kerkula, who placed fifth in the women's 60-meter dash finals in 8.25 seconds. Kerkula also finished 14th in the 200 in 28.55 seconds.
William Woods freshman Cole Brenneke (Blair Oaks High School) placed eighth in the men's pole vault at 11-1.25, while William Woods senior Cassidy Roling (Helias High School) took eighth in the women's weight throw (38-10.25) and 21st in the shot put (26-9).
Finishing in 13th place were Williams Woods sophomore Shaley Eichholz (Eugene High School) in the women's 3,000 (13:53.05), William Woods junior Charlie Schattgen (New Bloomfield High School) in the men's 3,000 (10:14.65) and Jordan in the men's 1,000 (3:03.06).
Columbia College won the men's championship with 208 points, nearly double that of runner-up Missouri Baptist. On the women's side, Missouri Baptist won the team title with 146 points, three better than Columbia College.