University of Northern Iowa Athletics

Wilde, Ungs lead Panthers in productive showing at Kip Janvrin Open
4/26/2025 9:43:00 AM | Track and Field
INDIANOLA, Iowa --- UNI track and field's week of split squad action wrapped its first of two competitions on Friday as the Panthers crowned two champions with 15 career-best marks at Simpson College's Kip Janvrin Open at Buxton Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Liza Schaffer opened action in Indianola with a second-place showing in the women's 1,500 meters in 4:33.68, with Claire Wright (4:47.01) following in 12th, Brooke O'Brien (4:47.69) in 14th and Kaylee Woolery (4:50.45) in 22nd, all of whom set new career-best times. Brayden Picken also set a new career-best time in the men's mile in 3:58.10 with a ninth-place finish, while Lauren Klein clocked a new personal-best in the women's 5,000-meter run (18:45.51).
Nathan Wilde and Caden Ungs both opened Friday's competition by setting new career-best marks in their respective events. In the men's hammer throw, Wilde threw for 59.26 meters to capture first-place with Justin Olson finishing second (53.25m), while Ungs topped the field in the men's high jump at an even two meters in his outdoor season debut.
Annalise Zeinemann (3.22m) and Hannah Wallace (3.07m) tied for sixth and eighth respectively in the women's pole vault, as Emma Joens took fourth in the discus with a 43.15-meter toss with Ciara Heffron (unattached) taking sixth (42.75m). Kileigh Lachacz (47.46m) also placed fourth in the women's hammer throw as Lauren Kounkel (unattached) finished in seventh (44.14m).
In the throwing circles, Kamari Brown (unattached) posted a new career-best throw of 13.71 meters with a second place finish in the shot put, while Tory Wash (unattached) threw 14.76 meters to take seventh in the men's shot put.
On the track, Jessica Kyne took fourth in the women's 100-meter dash in 12.30 seconds, as Carter Accola clocked a 14.90 second race in the men's 110-meter hurdles to finish in seventh. Ashton Hogrefe recorded a new career-best time of 53.26 seconds to take fourth in the men's 400-meter hurdles with Bill Mukhtar (55.14) following in sixth.
Giada Grimes (24.99) and Aleksys Gannon (25.76) ran in the women's 200 meters, finishing second and eighth respectively, while Zach Fall (48.35) finished third in the men's 400 meters with Onal Mitchell (49.58) taking seventh. Mary Kelly (2:14.24) and Kendra Nissen (2:15.40) also competed in the women's 800-meter run, earning third and fifth place finishes.
UP NEXT
UNI will conclude competition at the 115th running of the Drake Relays on Saturday in Des Moines. The Panthers return to action again next Saturday, May 3 at the Musco Twilight in Iowa City, hosted by the University of Iowa at the Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track.
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.