University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Drake Relays
Kessel wins shot put title, Hoins sets new school record at Drake Relays
4/27/2024 6:59:00 PM | Track and Field
DES MOINES, Iowa --- Strong storms late in the week would not deter the members of the UNI track and field team this week as the Panthers made their annual trip to Drake Stadium, participating in the 114th running of the historic Drake Relays.
Northern Iowa walked away from the four-day competition in the capital city with one individual title as freshman Spencer Kessel topped the field in the men's shot put, leading the competition from wire-to-wire and registering a best throw of 17.62 meters. The victory is his first in the event since winning the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) indoor shot put competition back in February in Chicago.
In the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, Emma Hoins crossed the finish line in second-place with a historic time of 10:19.19, breaking current Panther assistant coach Alex Teubel's 2015 school record by seven seconds. Sophia Jungling placed fifth in the unseeded women's 800-meter run (2:09.47), while the women's distance medley relay team of Jungling, Auriona Kimbrough, Kendra Nissen and Hoins took ninth-place in 11:40.85, the third-fastest mark in team history.
In the multi-events held on Wednesday and Thursday, Katy Stephens led the way for the purple and gold in the heptathlon with a career-best 5,006 points to take fourth-place, her first performance surpassing 5,000 points, with Darci Wiseman taking ninth-place with a career-high 4,328 points. Colin Buch led UNI in the decathlon with 5,833 points to take tenth.
In the field, a trio of Panthers scored third-place finishes in three events, as Brendan Safley cleared 5.12 meters to take third in the men's pole vault, Jorie Hanenburg throwing a career-best 14.67 meters in the women's shot put and Jose Dunbar leaping 5.91 meters in the women's long jump. Breanna Hackman meanwhile placed sixth in the women's discus (46.72m).
Northern Iowa's men's shuttle hurdle relay team of Carter Accola, Drew Bartels, Hunter Manock and Jack Sumners clocked a 58.20 second time to place second on the final day of competition, while the women's shuttle relay crew of Paige Kisley, Olivia Kramer, Darci Wiseman and Silvana Kabolo took fifth (1:01.48).
The women's 4x400-meter relay crew of Jill Bennett, Jungling, Kimbrough and Wiseman took placed fourth in 3:48.33, as Manock, Jerome Jessup, Deonte Dean and Sumners jumped from an eighth-place finish in the prelims to fifth in the finals in the men's 4x100-meter relay (40.68). Sumners rounded out Saturday's competition with a sixth-place effort in the men's 110-meter hurdles, matching a career-best time of 13.98 seconds.
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action next Friday, May 3 at the University of Wisconsin's Badger Invite in Madison.
Players Mentioned
