ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Vikings opened up their season with an intrasquad duel between the Blue Team, spearheaded by Coach Courtney O'Neal, and the Gold Team, led by Coach Carson Eipers. The teams faced off for bragging rights and the Beserker Battle Axe.
 
Notable performances included McKenzie Reser's 40m, where she set a new meet record in 5.54 seconds. Reser held the previous meet record of 5.61 from 2023. Sophomore Cora Deemer also earned a lifetime best in the event, taking second to Reser in 5.77 seconds. On the men's side, Ben Char and Sylvester Brady battled to the line, where Char edged out Brady by one one-hundredth of a second, winning the event in 5.17 seconds to Brady's 5.18 seconds. Sophomore Summer Pandey also ran a personal best in the 40m Dash.
 
Lauren Oelke held on to her meet record in the 47m Hurdles, narrowly missing a personal best, crossing the line in 8.03 seconds. For the men, freshman Brayden Veil took the crown with a time of 7.14 seconds.
 
In the 150m Dash, Reser again took gold for the Gold Team, where she ran 18.67, bettering her own personal best for a new meet record. Deemer earned a new personal best in the event with a 19.85, as did Jordyn Van Santen, who crossed the line in 20.61.
 
Char and Brady again battled over the 150m Dash, where Char took the early lead and set a new meet record in 16.64. 2024 graduate Connor McBride held the previous 150m meet record. Summer Pandey also earned himself a new personal best in the 150m Dash.
 
In the 600m Dash, Senior Lina Maatouk took down the school record of 1:37.73 which had stood since 2011, held by Hannah Hottle. Maatouk crossed the line in first place with a 1:36.11. It was her first-ever attempt at the 600m distance.
 
In the Mile run, freshman Keira Nelson came away with the win for the Blue Team. She crossed the line in 5:36.89 ahead of Blue Team teammate Marie Weber who took second in 5:53.99. Emiliano Almendariz crossed the line in first for the men, running a new personal best of 4:37.11. 
 
The Vikings closed out the running events with the 4x400m relay, where battles were hard fought on the track. The Gold Team took home the win on the women's side, with a new meet record of 4:13.41. Deemer, Riley Kulaga, Shakira Wade, and Reser were among the team's lineup, with Reser running a personal best 4x400m relay split of 57.8. This was Reser's fastest opening 400m leg ever. The Blue Team crossed the line in 4:15.20 for second, with the lineup of Van Santen, Oelke, Addi Wessel, and Maatouk. Both Oelke and Maatouk ran personal bests of 64.8 and 59.1, respectively.
 
The men came to the line for the 4x400m relay next, where the Blue Team ran a meet record of 3:38.03. Their lineup of Aidan Buford, Veil, Bayley Pierce, and Brady narrowly edged out the Gold Team of Jad Massouh, Collin Ferry, Josh Vook, and Donovan Garro, who ran 3:38.06. On the anchor leg, Brady and Garro fought from handoff to finish line, where Brady narrowly edged out Garro for the win.
 
In the field events, Khaliah Knox took gold for the Gold Team in the high jump, as did Caden Eller on the men's side. Cora Heller won the pole vault for the women in a new meet record of 3.20m (10' 6"). Blue Team teammate Noah DeMarco won the vault for the men with a jump of 3.65 (11'11 ¾").

In the horizontal jumps, Liz Hayes of the Blue Team took home the crown in the long jump – 4.57m (15' 0") – and the triple jump – 10.26m (33' 8"). Eller broke the meet record in the men's long jump with a jump of 6.34m (20' 9 ¾") and Gerard Cabrera Espinach set a new meet record in the triple jump with a mark of 12.01m (39' 5").
 
The Blue Team saw several personal bests among the shot put and weight throw events. Laina Nelson, Mike Hudson, Landon Wierenga, and Justin Russell all earned personal bests in shot put. Ella Colvin, Wierenga, and Micah Bischoff achieved personal bests in the weight throw.
 
Skyler Barber of the Gold Team also earned a personal best in the shot put, while Gold Team teammate Heather Michalski set a new meet record in the event with a throw of 13.15m (43' 1 ¾"). Michalski also set a new meet record in the weight throw with a toss of 14.81m (48' 7 ¼"). Magnus Wells won the shot put on the men's side with a throw of 13.31m (43' 8") and Wierenga took the crown in the weight throw with his effort of 16.18m (53' 1"). 
 
The Gold Team came away as this year's Intrasquad winners with 127 points. The Blue Team earned 116 points.