Panthers Earn High Team Finishes, 6 Titles At MVC Championships

Friday, May 13

Terre Haute, IN

All Day

University of Northern Iowa

MVC Outdoor Championships

Panthers Earn High Team Finishes, 6 Titles At MVC Championships

5/15/2016 4:15:00 PM | Track and Field

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The University of Northern Iowa track and field program claimed six individual titles today during the third day of the MVC Outdoor Championships, with the women placing second overall and the men finishing in third.

UNI's second place finish on the women's side is the best team finish for the Panthers since the 2008 season when the Panthers won the meet. For the men, it marks the third season in a row that the Panthers have placed in the top-three during the outdoor meet.

Senior Paige Knodle and junior Brandon Carnes continued to bring home the hardware for the Panthers, with Knodle earning Most Valuable Female Athlete of the Meet (highest point scorer) and Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet (highest nationally ranked times/marks of the weekend). Carnes was named Most Outstanding Male Track Athlete of the Meet for the second year in a row.

Carnes continued his winning streak in the Missouri Valley, bringing his individual title number to 12 after winning both the 100 and 200 meter dashes today. He ran a wind-aided time of 10.06 in the 100 meter dash that would rank him No. 3 in the NCAA and followed it up with a time of 20.54 to rank him No. 6 in the NCAA West.

Knodle also brought home two titles for the Panthers today, winning both the 100 meter and 400 meter hurdles. She broke the school and Gibson Track records in both events, bringing in times of 13.17 and 58.24 to rank her No. 13 and No. 14 in the NCAA West, respectively after not running the 400 hurdles since the 2014 season. She became just the fourth student-athlete in Missouri Valley history to win both the 100 and 400 hurdles at the championship meet.

Christine MacNeill and Rachel Peth also turned in team points for the Panthers in the 100 meter hurdles, placing fifth and sixth overall. MacNeill came in fifth with a season-best time of 13.88 while Peth came in side-by-side with MacNeill to earn sixth with the same time, divided by mere tenths of a second.

On the men's side, Jon Rus earned All-MVC honors for the second consecutive season, finishing in third overall. Rus ran a time of 13.95 to rank himself in the top-25 in the NCAA West, followed closely by true freshman Cole Phillips with a personal-best time of 14.27 and Daurice Fountain in 14.42 in sixth.

After winning All-MVC honors during the indoor 400 meters, senior Maddie Beeler capped off her career with a third place finish in the outdoor 400 dash. She earned her second individual All-Conference recognition with a time of 54.69.

Moving into the 800 meters, Amber Clock, who won the indoor title as well, continued her winning ways with a victory for the Panthers, running a time of 2:09.25. Running a tough race as well, sophomore Lindsey Kite earned her first All-MVC finish in the 800 run, coming in third with a personal-best time of 2:10.24. Colynn Black also earned All-Conference for the Panthers in the men's race, finishing in third overall with a time of 1:52.71.

In the 1,500 meters, Brette Correy scored key team points for the Panthers, placing third overall. She turned in a time of 4:29.85, ranking her third all-time at UNI.

In the field, the men's discus crew scored 21 team points, finishing first, second, seventh and eighth. Isaac Holtz came away victorious with a mark of 178-11, followed by Brad Walski in second with a toss of 173-03. Justin Baker finished in seventh overall with a throw of 163-06 with Jake Humpal rounding out UNI's scorers in eighth with a mark of 159-00.

Chloe Schmidt added an all-conference performance on the women's side, placing second overall in the discus throw, throwing for a distance of 158-08. Sarah Pate and Jamie Lindstrom also gave UNI points in the event, finishing in fifth and eighth, respectively.

Shawn Koch finished in third overall in the men's triple jump competition, earning All-MVC honors for the third consecutive season. Koch posted a mark of 50-08.00, keeping him ranked fourth all-time at UNI and No. 24 in the NCAA West.

The Panther men's relay teams earned All-Conference in both the 4X100 meter and 4X400 relays, placing second overall in both. The 4X100 relay team (Brandon Carnes, Evan Long, Tanner Dunkin, Raheem Black) earned a team time of 40.34 with the 4X400 relay team (Corey Hertz, Brett McCalla, Colynn Black, Evan Long) came away with a time of 3:12.35.

The women's 4X400 meter relay team wrapped up the meet adding the final All-MVC performance to the day for the Panthers. Maddie Beeler, Maddie Bell, Maddie Irmen and Paige Knodle finished in third place overall with a team time of 3:44.70 for a season-best.

UNI will return to action when a select group of athletes compete at the NCAA West Preliminary round in Lawrence, Kan., May 26-28. Stay tuned to www.UNIPanthers.com for a full list of competing athletes at the NCAA West meet.