Pair of Runner-Up Finishes Highlight Foresters First Day at MWC Championships

Photos by Tianna Beilke
Photos by Tianna Beilke

Senior Jorge Villanueva placed second in the 5000 and sophomore Yaneli Guajardo in the mile during Friday's opening day of the 2019 Midwest Conference Indoor Championship Meet at Monmouth College.

Villanueva completed his 25 laps around the track in 15:11.84, the second-fastest time in the 25-runner field. Junior Philip Wilson added a fifth-place finish and career-best indoor time of 15:29.76 in the same race, which accounted for 12 of the Foresters' 16 points on the day.

All 12 of Lake Forest's points on the women's side came from the mile, where Guajardo and senior Emily Staufer were also second and fifth, respectively. Guajardo finished in 5:17.00 but was edged out by just 0.12 seconds by the winner. Staufer's 5:23.78 was a career-best time by more than four seconds.

Adding to the point total for the Forester men was senior Christian Aldana, who finished sixth in the mile in 4:27.83. Lake Forest also placed eighth in the sprint medley relay.

Despite competing primarily in just the distance running events, the Forester men rank sixth and the women seventh out of 10 teams at the meet. Saturday's individual distance events are the 800 and 3000. Running events will begin with the distance medley relay at noon.