Panthers Go 1-2-3-4 in Men’s Decathlon, Men Lead Team Standings

Panthers Go 1-2-3-4 in Men’s Decathlon, Men Lead Team Standings

5/15/2021 10:25:00 PM | Track and Field

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CARBONDALE, Ill. – UNI track and field capped its second day of competition at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships on Saturday in Carbondale, Ill. after earning eight All-Conference honors in addition to Friday's three honors. The men currently lead the pack with 103.50 points and the women are sixth in the team standings with 26 points.

UNI went 1-2-3-4 in the men's decathlon, with sophomore Zack Butcher leading the Panthers and posting 6490 points to place first. Freshman Carter Morton finished second with 6440 points, sophomore Thai Thompson posted 6369 points to take third, and freshman Matt Davis rounded out the group with 6310 points to finish fourth.

Graduate student Darius King added to his accolades, clinching gold in the men's shot put with a toss of 20.08m, a mere 0.06m from his personal-best and school record of 20.14m. Redshirt senior Aleenah Marcucci also took home gold, landing first in the women's long jump with a mark of 5.92m. In the men's long jump the Panthers saw silver and bronze finishes from sophomore Jack Sumners and freshman Parker Kiewiet, who posted leaps of 7.25m (outdoor PR) and 7.23m, respectively. Senior Cameron Cantrall saw the podium for his efforts in the men's high jump after finishing second with a mark of 2.03m.

On the track 14 Panthers advanced to Sunday's finals. Marcucci earned her spot in the women's 100-meter hurdles final after finishing second in the prelims with a time of 13.81. Sumners posted a time of 14.57 to finish fifth in the men's 110-meter hurdles to advance to the finals. Sophomore Jill Bennett and senior Sven Van Den Bergh advanced to the women's and men's 400-meter finals after posting times of 56.19 and 48.73, respectively. Graduate student Taylor Raines and freshmen Paishence Johnson and Libby Wedewer took third (12.02), sixth (12.12), and eighth (12.17), respectively to advance to Sunday's women's 100-meter finals. In the men's 100 meters, Kiewiet, senior Isaiah Trousil, and graduate student Elijah Hicks earned their spots in the finals after finishing fifth (10.75), seventh (10.67), and eighth (10.81), respectively. Freshman Drake Hanson and graduate student Wal Khat battled their way to the men's 800-meter finals, with Hanson finishing second (1:50.57) and Khat finishing sixth (1:51.03) in the prelims. Juniors Katie Nimrod and Cole Willert earned spots in the women's and men's 400-meter hurdle finals, both finishing sixth in the prelims and posting times of 1:04.52 and 54.46, respectively.

Friday's action saw graduate student Kyler Yodts post a personal best of 65.16m in the men's hammer throw to finish second. King and junior Cierra Laux took third in the men's javelin (56.53m, PR) and women's pole vault (3.70m), respectively.

Up Next
Competition resumes Sunday with field events at 11:30 a.m. and track events at 1 p.m. Coverage on ESPN3 will begin at 12:50 p.m.