UNI Wins Three Individual Titles At Day Two Of MVC Meet

UNI Wins Three Individual Titles At Day Two Of MVC Meet

5/13/2017 9:02:00 PM | Track and Field

Saturday Results | Sunday Heat Sheets

WICHITA, Kan. – The UNI track and field team came out strong on the second day of the 2017 MVC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, bringing in three individual titles and key points to put UNI in a good spot heading into the final day of competition.

Highlighting the day for the Panthers was an outstanding performance by freshman C.J. May in the 3,000 meter steeplechase to bring in 10 points. May, who entered the meet fourth in the event in the Valley, led the race the entire way. In the final 100 meters, he had a challenger from Wichita State, but May was able to hold on and come away with the incredible win and his new PR time of 9:11.55.

The Panthers claimed its first individual title in the field in the men's shot put, but the UNI throws crew made it a team affair, pulling in 22 total points in the event. Brad Walski came away victorious in the event with a personal-best mark of 59-3.50 to earn his first MVC title and to rank No. 4 all-time at UNI.

Isaac Holtz earned all-conference in the shot put, placing third overall with a mark of 57-4.75 for a career-best, followed by freshman Kyler Yodts in fifth with a PR toss of 57-4.75. Freshman Thomas Yezek finished up the event in eighth to earn a critical point, notching a mark of 55-4.25.

Allison Griffin kept racking in the points for the Panther throwers, finishing in sixth place in the women's shot put. She notched a personal-best mark of 45-6.25 to break her own UNI freshman record that she set at the beginning of the season.

Kassidy Sharp and Maria Gonzalez combined for 18 points in the women's high jump, with Sharp bringing home the win. She finished with a new personal-best of 5-9.25 to rank her No. 3 all-time at UNI and No. 33 in the NCAA West region heading into the weekend. Gonzalez finished with a career-best height of 5-8.00 to tie for fifth all-time at UNI.

Finishing up UNI's points scorers in the field was sophomore Bryce Newcomb in the long jump. Newcomb made the finals and posted a new PR of 23-5.25 to finish in eighth place overall.

The men's hurdle crew came out of the blocks with speed, qualifying four athletes to the finals. Jon Rus led the way with a time of 14.10, followed by Daurice Fountain with a new personal-best time of 14.14. Cole Phillips clocked a time of 14.14 with Connor Ham coming in with a time of 14.42 as UNI's last qualifier.

Staying in the sprints, Brandon Carnes qualified for the 100 meter dash finals tomorrow with the fastest preliminary time for the fourth straight year. The senior posted a time of 10.13 with the next fastest time coming in at 10.27.

Between the men's and women's teams, the Panthers had four qualifiers in the 400 meters, with Maddie Bell representing the women's team with a career-best time of 55.44. On the men's side, Evan Long ran the second fastest time in the prelims with a PR of 47.64. Brett McCalla added a personal-best of 47.95 with Corey Hertz rounding out UNI's qualifiers in 48.07.

In the 400 meter hurdles, Jacob Smith recorded the fastest time in the preliminary race, running a 51.68 to tie his personal-best and move him into the finals. Raheem Black also found his way into the finals tomorrow in the event, running a time of 53.51 for a season-best.

Moving into the middle distance races, Lyndsie Schinkel (2:12.79), Lindsey Kite (2:12.89) and Theresa Connelly (2:14.50) earned spots in the 800 meter final tomorrow with Schinkel running the fastest overall time today. On the men's side, both Luke Johnston and Colynn Black will run in the 800 meter finals, recording times of 1:52.54 and 1:52.57, respectively.

In the decathlon, both Austin Heitland and Alex Duff scored points and personal-bests, finishing in fifth with 6,302 points and seventh with 6,278 points. They both got the day started with PRs in the 110 meter hurdles with Duff running the second fastest time of the day in 14.69.

In the discus, Heitland placed fourth in the group with a personal-best of 103-7.00, followed by a fourth place finish in the pole vault with a mark of 12-10.25. Duff claimed a career-best in the javelin with a toss of 112-10.00 and also finished first in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:36.39 to finish the decathlon.

Both Brooke Lorenz and Amanda Wiebke had strong outings to wrap up competition in the heptathlon, finishing in 12^th and 15^th overall with personal-best point totals of 4,465 and 4,087, respectively. They both opened the day with PRs in the long jump while Wiebke scored a PR in the javelin of 92-7.00 as well. They finished the day in the 800 meters with Wiebke winning her heat with a career-best time of 2:31.48.

UNI returns to action tomorrow for the final day of the championship meet. The men's team is sitting in third place with the women sitting in fifth. Field events get underway at 11:30 a.m. with the first event on the track starting at 1 p.m.