Track and Field competes at many invites

The men and women track and field teams competed in Kansas, throwers in Iowa

The MSU outdoor track and field season got underway this past weekend as both the men and women’s team traveled to Pittsburg, Kansas to participate in the Wendys/PSU Invitational.

The girls had their selves a nice day and managed to secure some first place finishes on the day. First up in the 3,000-meter steeple it was senior Samantha Soupirthat would set the standard for the day when she finished with a time of 11:32:56 which gave her a first place finish.

In the 100-meter hurdle another first place victory was accomplished, this time by sophomore Altoniece Williams when she finished the event with a provisional qualifying time of 13.67.

“Williams broke the school record in the 100H that has stood for 28 years with her time of 13.67, which also put her #1 in DII,” Head coach Jennifer Blue said.

It was the 100-meter hurdle that saw some the most success for the Mavericks when they had three people place in the top 10. Freshman Afure Adah was able to crack the top three and place third with her time of 12.13, while sophomore Brianna Holt and senior Mackenzie Beals placed ninth and 10th respectively.
In addition to that, there were also three top ten finishes for the Mavs in the 200-meter hurdle. Williams took second in this event clocking a time of 25.22, Adah placed right behind her at 25.23 seconds, and Beals finished in ninth.

Freshman Haley Kruger and sophomore Megan Allen took the first and second place spots in the 800-meter dash with times of 2:14:24 for Kruger and 2:14:53 for Allen. The 400-meter hurdle event was taken by MSU when senior Brooke Foreman placed a time of 1:04:47, and following close behind was junior Sophia Simonson with a time of 1:06:75 which gave her third place.

The team of Holt, Beals, Gabi Gaines, and Holly Sus placed fourth in the 4×100 with a 48:02 time. Freshman Khadiya Hollingsworth secured first placed in the high jump by setting a 5.08.50” jump. Kayla Lindel didn’t trail to far behind either when she got third with a jump of 5’05.00”.

Another two provisional qualifying mark was taken by senior Faryn Wirkus when she placed third in the pole vault while junior Ariel Thomas secured her mark by placing second in the triple jump.

Meanwhile, the same day in Des Moines freshman Sarah Kalkhoff won the discus when she recorded a 128’02” toss. Junior Emma Edelen placed third in discus, while she also placed fourth in the hammer throw and sixth in shot put. Senior Morgan Stampley got herself a first place finish in the hammer throw with a 170’02” toss while sophomore Sara Knutson was close behind in third with 144’05”.

“It was good opening meet to the outdoor season and the marks are ahead of where we were last year at this time, so that is promising,” Blue said.

The men also showed out and had a great outing on the day.

“This weekend, the men’s track team split between three different meets on account of different event groups,” assistant coach Loren Ahonen said.

Over the on the men’s side it was senior Richard Wilhite Jr. that was able to qualify provisionally for two different events including the 100-meter dash where he placed third with a 10.61 time and in the 200-meter dash where he placed second with a 21.16 time.

“Wilhite performed very well in the sprints running a strong 4x100m leg, provisionally qualifying for the national meet in the 100m with a 10.61 and setting a personal best,” Ahonen said.

The 400-meter had freshman Jon Schuster take the fifth place spot home while teammates Javontee Brice and Reid Diamond took the sixth and seventh place spots respectively. Sophomore Austin Pasch participated in his first event of the outdoor season and placed first in the 1500-meters when he placed a 3:58:85.
In what was probably the Mavericks best overall event of the day they saw three athletes place in the top five of the 5000-meter run. Freshman Derek Cruz led the way for the team by placing second with a 15:17:59 time, while freshman Caleb Burke placed third and senior Matt Longen placed fourth.

In the 4×100 the Mavs placed third with a time of 41.42. Junior Frank Veldman placed second in the high jump at a recorded jump of 6’6.75”. Junior Alex Campbell only placed eighth in the high jump but had a great showing in the triple jump event by placing second with a jump of 49’03.50”. The jump also made Campbell qualify provisionally.

“Moving forward we need to get our 4x100m relay more reps together as athlete familiarity with each other for the exchanges is crucial to the success of the event. This weekend they gave themselves a great baseline, now they just need to dial things in over the coming weeks,” explained Coach Ahonen.

In Des Moines the men throwers were also participating in the Grand View Invitational. Sophomore Sam Udermann finished fourth in discus, fourth in the hammer throw, and sixth in the shot put. Sophomore Dustin Gill placed fifth in the shot put while junior Bryan Caffin finished second in the hammer throw and fourth in the shot put.