GRINNELL, Iowa -- The Lawrence University steeplechase runners led the way Saturday at the final day of the Midwest Conference Championships at the Darren Young Track and Field Complex.
    Riley Winebrenner placed second in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase and the Vikings placed a pair of runners in the men's steeplechase.
    Winebrenner, the defending conference champion in the steeplechase, was locked in a battle with Ripon College Mikayla Flyte throughout the race. The runners traded the lead before Flyte grabbed the lead for good on the last lap. Flyte took the title in 11:39.78, and Winebrenner was second in 11:51.15.
    On the men's side, three Lawrence runners were just behind the leaders throughout, and Ray Wetzel-Meehan was the Vikings' top finisher as he took sixth place in 10:18.80. Teammate Dylan Coble was literally on his heels as Coble raced to seventh in 10:18.84, just .04 seconds behind Wetzel-Meehan. Lawrence's Itai Bodjak-Yates was edged for eighth place.
     It was a busy day for Winebrenner, who was among two Lawrence runners placing in the 5,000 meters. Cristyn Oliver took fifth place in 18:48.81, and Winebrenner grabbed eighth place in 19:26.25. 
    Lawrence's Irene Yank and Mariana Zendejas both placed in a pair of events. Yank was sixth in the 100 hurdles in 17.19 seconds, and she took eighth in the triple jump with a leap of 32 feet, 4.75 inches. Zendejas grabbed seventh in the triple jump at 32-10.5 and went on to place seventh in the 100 hurdles in 17.48 seconds.
    Faith Onukaogu also placed in a pair of events. Onukaogu raced to seventh in the 800 in 2:29.90. She also teamed with Lilia Bodnar, Berkeley Krell and Emily Sugiyama to take seventh in the 4x400 relay in 4:20.75.
    Lawrence's other placewinner on the women's side was Claire Paquin, who finished seventh in the 400 hurdles in 1:12.61.
    Lawrence's Adam Bruce placed in both events in the long distance double. After taking eighth in the 10,000 on Friday, Bruce bounced back to take seventh in the 5,000 in 16:03.93 on Saturday.
    Lawrence placed two athletes in the triple jump as Will Eggert took seventh with a leap of 41-0.5, and David Benjamin grabbed eighth place at 40-8.25.
    Lawrence's 4x400 team of Marcus Jackson, Connor Myatt, Benjamin and Bergen Thorson took seventh in 3:33.23.
    The Lawrence women were seventh in the team standings with 36 points, and the men were eighth with 37 points.