Jeff Wettach leads to success: Luther's track-and-field very good.

The Luther indoor track season finished on a positive note with both the men’s 4x400 meter relay team and shot putter Jess Jewell (‘08) posting outstanding performances at the NCAA Division III National Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The relay team, consisting of Lucas Reidenbach (‘08), Mike Tangen (‘08), Ryan Potter (‘07) and Tyler Sherden (‘07), finished eighth with a time of 3:20.26 to earn All-America honors. All-America honors eluded the team last year after injuries derailed what had been a successful season.

“This achievement has been a dream of mine and my teammates for all of our years running track,” said Reidenbach. “It is crazy that it has actually come true.”

Although the team ran fast enough to qualify as All-America, the runners know they can perform even better.

“Going into nationals as the final seed we knew we had nothing to lose,” said Sherden. “Making it to the meet was an accomplishment in itself but none of us were going to be satisfied with that.” (...)
“Things just came together that day,” said Sherden. “We improved our season’s best time by almost four seconds, set a new school record and earned ourselves the 10th and final spot at the national meet.”

Perhaps the most impressive characteristic of the team is their aspiration to build upon what already are incredible careers.

“They have a great desire to improve,” said head coach Jeff Wettach. “I was so pleased with the way they prepared.” (...)

Wettach also stressed the divide between the indoor and outdoor seasons.

“We definitely point towards the outdoor season,” he said. “Success in the indoor season is really just a bonus, but it shows we are capable of running faster outdoors.”

“If we do not make it to nationals this outdoor season I know that I will be very disappointed,” said Reidenbach. “We are ready and Coach Wettach has prepared us extremely well for the outdoor season.” (...)
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