King Breaks MVC Meet Record, Panthers Add Five More All-Conference Honors

King Breaks MVC Meet Record, Panthers Add Five More All-Conference Honors

2/27/2021 9:44:00 PM | Track and Field

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – At the end of the second day of the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, the UNI men kept their lead in the team standings with 73 points. Trailing the Panthers with 68 points in second place is Illinois State. On the women's side, the Panthers closed out the second day of competition in fourth place with a score of 53. Ahead of the UNI women are Illinois State and Indiana State, both tied for second with scores of 56.

Graduate student Darius King earned an all-conference finish in the men's shot put with a toss of 19.77m, smashing the previous MVC meet record of 19.40m to place first. Joining King on the podium for the shot put was fellow graduate student Kyler Yodts, who placed third with a throw of 17.39m. Freshman Brendan Safley posted an all-conference finish in the men's pole vault with a personal best mark of 4.81m to take gold. Junior Cierra Laux posted an all-conference finish in the women's pole vault, clearing the 3.86m mark to take second. Junior Paige Holub earned all-conference honors for her third-place finish in the women's mile, clocking a time of 4:58.52.

Sunday's Qualifiers
Sophomores Jack Sumners and Riley Little advance to the men's 60-meter hurdles final after finishing third (8.18) and sixth (8.51), in the prelims respectively. Senior Sven Van Den Bergh qualified for the men's 400 meters after posting a time of 49.03 to take first in the prelims. Senior Tayshaun Cooper and graduate student Eli Hicks will compete in the men's 60-meter final after finishing second (6.85) and sixth (6.94) in the prelims, respectively. Freshman Drake Hanson and senior Seb Gearhart will advance to the men's 800-meter final after landing sixth (1:56.84) and eighth (1:56.18).

Redshirt senior Aleenah Marcucci and seniors Hannah Schau and Megan Hudson qualified for Sunday's 60-meter hurdle final, finishing third (8.69), fourth (8.88), and sixth (8.98), respectively in the prelims. Sophomore Jill Bennett and junior Emily Vos will advance to the 400-meter finals after posting fourth-place (57.15) and eighth-place (58.74) finishes in the prelims. Finishing fifth (7.66) and seventh (7.69) in the women's 60-meter prelims, junior Rylan Santi and freshman Paishence Johnson advance to the finals. Freshman Libby Wedewer edged past Indiana State's Reynei Wallace in a run-off race to earn the eighth qualifying spot after posting a time of 7.71 in the prelims. Freshman Sophia Jungling and sophomore Noel James will compete in Sunday's 800-meter finals after finishing fifth (2:15.61) and eighth (2:16.17) in the prelims.

After four events, sophomore Zack Butler sits in third in the men's heptathlon with 2875 points. Fellow sophomore Thai Thompson is in fifth (2855 points), freshman Parker Kiewiet is in sixth (2846 points), and freshman Carter Morton is currently seventh (2691 points). Remaining events in the heptathlon are the 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1000 meters, which will be completed on Sunday.

Up Next
The final day of the MVC Indoor Championships kicks off at 10:00 a.m. with the completion of the men's heptathlon and will be broadcasted on ESPN3 starting at 11:15 a.m.