Darius King Breaks School Record, Moves to No. 2 in NCAA at Jack Jennett Open

Thursday, January 21

Cedar Falls, Iowa

University of Northern Iowa

Jack Jennett Open

Photo by: Erica Loussaert

Darius King Breaks School Record, Moves to No. 2 in NCAA at Jack Jennett Open

1/22/2021 7:21:00 PM | Track and Field

Results

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Darius King bested his career-best shot put mark and the UNI school indoor record by over 18 inches and moved into second place in the NCAA to highlight UNI performances in the final day of the Jack Jennett Open Friday at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.

King hit 20-meters for the first time of his career and did it in consecutive throws, hitting 20.06 before finishing his preliminary round with a throw of 20.00. His previous career-best and old school record was 19.58-meters.

Texas' Adrian Piperi, the 2019 NCAA Outdoor National Champion, leads the country with a throw of 20.61-meters. King is just the second athlete in the NCAA to pass 20-meters this season. The UNI-Dome shot put record is 20.38-meters that was set in 1976 by Al Fuerbacj

King won the event by over five feet over Illinois State's Logan Calvin. UNI's Tom Yezek was third, throwing unattached, with a throw of 17.49 meters. Kyler Yodts was fourth with a throw of 17.21.

The Panthers earned 14 event wins and 34 total top-3 finishes in the meet.

Freshman sprinter Libby Wedewer won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.72, putting her eighth on the UNI all-time list. She now sits atop the MVC before today's results were recorded. Wedewer also raced as a member of the 4x400-meter relay team that came from being to beat the Bradley team down the home stretch.

UNI next travels to Waverly on Jan. 29 for the Wartburg Indoor Select. The next meet inside the UNI-Dome will be the MVC Indoor Championships on Feb. 26-28.