Baker's School Records Highlight Strong Team Performance

Friday, April 15

Columbia, MO

4:30 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

Tom Botts Invitational

Baker's School Records Highlight Strong Team Performance

4/16/2016 8:04:00 PM | Track and Field

Final Results

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Senior Justin Baker captured two school records at the Tom Botts Invitational, highlighting a strong team performance from the Panthers.

The senior started the weekend in the hammer throw, breaking his own school record with a toss of 212-02.00 to win the event and keep himself at the top of the Missouri Valley rankings. His personal-best performance moved him into No. 7 in the NCAA West Regional.

Brad Walski and Isaac Holtz also scored personal-bests in the men's hammer throw, finishing with throws of 192-09.00 (No. 41 in NCAA West) and 183-02.00, respectively. On the women's side, Jamie Lindstrom placed fifth overall with a season-best of 184-09.00, moving her into No. 42 in the West Region.

Baker brought in his second UNI record of the meet in the men's shot put, placing second overall with a huge PR of 62-08.75. It moved him into No. 5 in the West along with No. 2 in the MVC. Lindstrom also moved up in the NCAA West rankings in the women's shot put, placing sixth overall with a season-best toss of 49-03.75 that puts her at No. 39.

Rounding out UNI's standout performance in the throws was Hope Koerperich and Chloe Schmidt in the women's discus. Koerperich threw a personal-best of 152-05.00 for third place to rank herself No. 4 in the MVC while Schmidt finished with a mark of 152-02.00 to finish right behind Koerperich in fifth.

In the jumps, Shawn Koch finished with a wind-legal personal-best of 50-07.50 in the triple jump for the win, ranking himself first in the conference, No. 15 in the NCAA West and No. 4 all-time at UNI. Tatiana Rice also turned in a season-best jump of 37-09.25 in the women's competition, placing fourth.

Wrapping up action in the field was senior Charles Fenner in the pole vault. Fenner recorded a fourth place finish in the competition, grabbing a personal-best height of 16-01.25 to propel him into No. 5 in the Valley.

UNI shined during a windy day on the track at the Tom Botts Invitational, earning several top marks that rank high in the conference and in the NCAA West Region.

Paige Knodle opened the day in the 100 meter hurdles, winning the event for the third time this season. She ran a wind-aided 13.27, pushing her into No. 10 in the West Region and No. 1 in the Valley.

Brandon Carnes continued to keep himself ranked at the top of the MVC, turning in the two fastest times in the conference in the 100 and 200 meters. He finished second overall in the 100 dash with a wind-aided time of 10.27, landing him at No. 6 in the West. He followed it up with a big performance in the 200 meters, running a time of 20.86 to move into the No. 12 spot in the West Region.

For the women, Maddie Beeler and Maddie Irmen both notched personal-bests on the day in the sprints. Beeler placed fifth overall in the 200 meter dash, tying her personal-best time of 24.66 while Irmen finished in eighth in the 400 dash with a PR of 56.61.

Moving into the middle-distance races, the Panthers finished with five top-five finishes between the men's and women's races. On the women's side, Brette Correy finished third overall with a season-best of 2:10.09 to rank first in the Valley while Amber Clock also turned in a season-best time of 2:12.03 for a fifth place finish.

Dylan Eigenberger, Jordan Pingel and Luke Johnston claimed second, third and fourth in the men's race, all turning in key personal-best times. Eigenberger crossed the finish line in 1:51.68, followed by Pingel in 1:51.78 with Johnston notching a time of 1:51.80.

Correy was able to keep the momentum going into the women's 1,500 meter run, setting a personal-best in the race while finished second overall. She turned in a time of 4:29.87 to rank her third in the Valley and No. 3 all-time at UNI.

UNI posted key performances in the distance races, including a win by Shane Kirchoff in the 3,000 meter steeplechase. Shane finished with a time of 9:21.51 for a season-best while Callie Matthews finished second overall for the women in 11:18.75.

Kelsey Kirchoff followed her brother's lead, grabbing a second place finish in the women's 5,000 meters for an outdoor personal-best of 17:37.54. Zach Buchheit also placed fifth for the men in the 5K, running the second-fastest time of his career in 14:52.68.

Wrapping up the meet, both the men's and women's 4X400 meter relay teams earned top-five finishes. The men's team of Raheem Black, Evan Long, Corey Hertz and Brett McCalla turned in a season-best time of 3:15.51 for third place while Beeler, Maddie Bell, Irmen and Correy ran a time of 3:46.46 for fourth overall.

The Panthers will return to action on April 23 when they compete in the Musco Invitational, hosted by the University of Iowa.