University of Northern Iowa Athletics
University of Northern Iowa
Jimmy Grant Alumni Invitational
Morton sets UNI, MVC heptathlon record at Jimmy Grant Alumni Invitational
12/13/2025 8:43:00 PM | Track and Field
IOWA CITY, Iowa --- A large portion of the UNI track and field team opened its 2025-26 indoor season on Friday and Saturday, competing at the Jimmy Grant Invitational at the Hawkeye Indoor Track Facility.
In their first outing of the year, the Panthers walked away with ten first place finishes among attached athletes, along with one new school and Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) record.
All-American Carter Morton, who placed fifth at the NCAA Indoor Championships last season in the heptathlon, picked up right where he left off last season with a dominating showing, breaking Raven Cepeda's 2008 UNI and MVC record. The first Northern Iowa and MVC heptathlete to surpass 6,000 points, Morton set new career-best marks in the long jump, 60-meter hurdles, 1,000 meters and high jumper, the latter of which did so with a meet record 24' 8 ¼ leap. With a 6,054-point score, Morton currently leads all of Division I heptathletes in the event early in the season.
UNI also put on a strong performance in the pentathlon with Joey Perry posting the fourth-highest score in program history with 3,953 points. Katy Stephens (unattached), took third with 3,571 points, followed by Katy Hand (3,146 points) and Makayla Crannell in fifth (3,083 points).
Josie Moreland (5' 7) and Soren Maricle (5' 1 went back-to-back, finishing first and second in the women's high jump, as Daniel Adams cleared 6 '10 ¾ to win the men's high jump with a new meet record in his UNI debut.
Three Panthers swept the top three spots in the women's pole vault as Erica Miner (12' 9 ½, Sydnee Scott (12' 1 ½) and Annalise Zeinemann (10' 4) finished first, second and third. T.Y. Pour won the men's long jump with a leap of 22' 5 in his Panther debut, while Josie Dunbar won the women's long jump (19' 4 ¾) with Maleah Walker setting a new career-best mark with a second place showing in 18' 5 ¼.
In the men's shot put, Northern Iowa swept the top four spots on the podium with Carson Lienau tossing for 59' 2 ¼ with Spencer Kessel in second (58' 5 ¾), David Russell in third (47' 11 ¼) and Sam Thomas, competing unattached, taking fourth (56' 2 ¾). Breanna Hackman meanwhile finished second in the women's shot put (46' 3 ½), followed by Jorie Hanenburg (44' 10 ¾) in third, Brylie Lorence competing unattached in fourth (43' 11 ¼) and Lauren Kounkel tying her career-best mark in fifth (43' 5 ¼).
Tinashe Chigudu etched his name into the UNI record books with a career-best time of 6.71 seconds to win the men's 60-meter dash, tied for the fourth-fastest mark in team history with Tyler Sickerson finishing in fifth (6.89). In the women's 3,000-meter run, Amelia Hill posted a new meet record time to win the event in 9:52.38, with Lindsey Sonderman in second (9:55.89), Meghan Wheatley in third (10:13.24), Liza Schaffer in fourth (10:18.08) and Kaylee Woolery in fifth (10:22.30).
In the men's 300-meter dash, Parker Kiewiet took home second place in 33.33 seconds, with Jordan Townsend clocking the fourth-fastest time in team history (33.89) and Zach Fall taking fifth (34.06). Chase Knoche (unattached) topped the field in the men's 600 meters (1:19.60), with Derek Woods taking second (1:19.75), Keegan Steege in third unattached (1:20.74) and Jayden Dickson in fifth unattached (1:21.23).
Giada Grimes earned a first-place finish in the women's 200-meter dash in a time of 25.52. As the 4x400-meter relay team of Fall, Townsend, Woods and Kiewiet finished in first (3:14.78).
UP NEXT
The Panthers return to action on Saturday, Jan. 10 at the Minnesota Open in Minneapolis.
UNI track and field action can be followed all season long on social media on Facebook (UNI Track and Field), X (@UNITrackFieldXC) and on Instagram (@uni_tf_xc). Schedules and rosters, along with the latest Panther news and information can be found online at UNIpanthers.com.
Players Mentioned
