Morton wins long jump on opening day of MVC Indoor Track & Field Championships

2023 Missouri Valley Indoor Track & Field Championships

Morton wins long jump on opening day of MVC Indoor Track & Field Championships

2/26/2023 9:07:00 PM | Track and Field

Day One Results Live Results Watch (Day Two) [ESPN+]MVC Championship Website

Panther men sit in second after first day of competition. UNI women in seventh.

CHICAGO --- UNI's Carter Morton set a new career-best to top the podium in the men's long jump as the Panthers opened up competition on the first day of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Indoor Championships on Sunday at Gately Park.

The Panther men sit just 8 points back of first place Indiana State after the first day of competition, while the UNI women's team sits at seventh place (Full standings listed below).

Morton shattered his career-best by three and a half inches to win his first MVC indoor title with a jump of 24 feet, 1.75 inches. The Jefferson, Iowa native is the first Panther to win the event since Cody Eichmeier won three consecutive long jump titles from 2005 through 2007. Parker Kiewiet and Jack Sumners finished second and third respectively with Kiewiet jumping 23 feet, 11.5 inches to place second. Sumners finished with a leap of 23 feet, 5.5 inches.

In the men's pole vault, Brendan Safley recorded a season-best vault of 15 feet, 11 inches (4.85m) to take second place for the Panthers. Alivia Silvestri finished in 11th place in the women's pole vault, clearing 11 feet, 9.75 inches.

Makenna Wilson led the way in the women's weight throw with a fourth place and 62 feet and one-quarter inch. School record holder Mari Shavers placed fourth (58 feet, 2 inches) and Sarah Byrd came in thirteenth place (51 feet, 0.75 inches).

Running the men's 400 meter prelims, Kiewiet clinched the top qualifying time in the men's 400-meter prelims seeded first for tomorrow's final with a time of 46.33 seconds, setting a new MVC Championship meet record previously set by UNI Hall of Famer Dirk Homewood in 2005. Kiewiet seeks to become UNI's first champion in the event since Cory Goos of 2009.

Onal Mitchell (48.19), Andrew Feguson (48.76), and River Patterson (48.87) also all advanced to the 400-meter final tomorrow after placing fifth, sixth, and seventh in prelims respectively. Emily Vos finished in seventh place with a indoor career-best time of 56.71 in the women's 400-meters, with Erin Kerkhoff finishing in eighth place (56.72) to join her teammate Vos in Monday afternoon's final.

After finishing in second in the prelims, Drake Hanson will run in the men's 800 meter final on Tuesday after registering a time of 1:52.14. David Holesinger II also punched his ticket to the men's mile final as the seventh-seed, running a career-best time of 4:11.78.

Sumners and Kyle Trunnell both secured their spots in the 60-meter hurdle finals tomorrow, with Sumners, the reigning MVC champion finishing second in the prelims with a career-best time of 8.06 seconds. Trunnell clocked a time of 8.26 finishing in sixth place in the prelims. Paige Kisley secured fourth place and a finals berth with a time of 8.78 in the women's 60-meter hurdles.

In the men's 200-meters, Feguson (21.63) and Deonte Dean (21.74) came in fifth and sixth in the prelims, while Vos ran a career-best time of 24:53 in the women's 200-meters, recording the fifth fastest time in school history.

Both of UNI's distance medley relays came in fifth place, as the women's team of Paige Holub, Auriona Kimbrough, Sydney Schaffer and Ella Popenhagen clocked a time of 11:56.92. The men's combination of David Holesinger II, Luke Meyers, Chase Knoche and Hanson recorded a time of 10:10.95.

Katy Stephens led UNI to a fifth place finish in the Pentathlon with a career-best 3,258 total points. Morton currently leads the Heptathlon field after the first four events with 3,147 points in the Heptathlon. Drew Bartels scored 2,824 points, with Brody Lovell notching 2,733 points.

2023 MVC Men's Indoor Track & Field Championship Team Scores (Thru Day One)