[Indoor Track and Field] Dynasty Continues! Women's Indoor Track & Field Falcons claim ...
WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Women's Indoor Track & Field Falcons' historical run of dominance will continue for another year as the program won the KCAC conference championship for the eighth straight season today (Feb. 19) at the Heskett Center on the campus of Wichita State University. The Men's Falcons also displayed brilliance in a second-place finish.
The Falcon Women held off the University of Saint Mary 214-207.50, while the men fell to the Spires 216-167.
"We fought hard this weekend," said Friends head coach Henry Brun. "I loved the energy we brought into the meet and it carried through a long two days of competition. Our staff talked to the team about taking this challenge one event at a time and the results will come if we stay focused."
It was none other than blazing hot Kortney Schutt to get the Falcons started on Friday, with the three-time defending KCAC Women's Field Athlete of the Week winner winning the weight throw with a meet record 17.89m. The Falcons got more points in the event when Makenzie Burns (SR/Goddard, Kan.) came in second (15.77m).
Brynna Halata (FR/Friendswood, Texas) kept the Falcons going with a runner-up showing in the pole vault (3.27m) and the 4 X 800 relay team of Kourtney Warren (FR/Temple Terrace, Fla.), Sarah Tarn (SO/Montezuma, Kan. ), Kayli Gonzales and Claire Dingler (FR/Colwich, Kan.) also produced a second-place finish with a time of 10:04.28.
The second day of the meet started in spectacular fashion for the Women Falcons, as Elaina Henderson (SR/San Antonio, Texas) set a new indoor PR and captured the league championship in the triple jump with an automatic qualifier mark of 11.55m and was joined on the podium by Anya Walton (SO/Midland, Texas) in the third spot (11.22m, "B" standard).
Kendra Blaylock (FR/Blue Ridge, Texas) gave the Falcons a third-place result and key points in the 400 meter run (1:00.59), with the big blow coming in the 600 meter event that saw Aubry Donley (JR/Lincoln, Kan. ) (first, 1:38.42, "B" standard), Aileen Gurrola (SR/Garden City, Kan.) (second, 1:38.45, "B" standard) and Warren (third, 1:41.21) providing Friends with a key sweep of the top three positions.
Donley wasn't finished and managed to get on the podium in third for the 800 meter run (2:20.30).
Caroline Giles (JR/Minneapolis, Kan.) then got in the act with a pair of top three showings, coming in second in both the 1,000 meters (3:03.45) and 3,000 meter event (10:29.36) along with a third-place finish in the mile run (5:10.45) while hitting the "B" standard in all three events.
In the 60 hurdle finals, it was Keiana Newman (FR/Concordia, Kan.) (9:21) and Moriah Shaw (FR/Cove, Texas) (9:49) coming in second and third, respectively for the Falcons.
Behind the team of Jaylen Knight (JR/Omaha, Neb.), Blaylock, Maria Botella-Manich (SO/Barcelona, Spain) and Donley, the Falcons came through with a key win in the 4 X 400 relay with a time of 4:07.31.
The Falcons also finished ahead of Saint Mary in the Distance Medley Relay, as Emma Willour (SO/Potwin, Kan. ), Kaylah Petty (FR/Saint Louis, Mo.), Selema Ortiz (FR/Tolleson, Ariz) and Dingler produced a second-place result of 13:22.84.
Knight would then compete in the high jump and notch a third-place showing (1.55m) for Friends.
Schutt had another big performance in her and won the shot put with an NAIA "A" standard throw of 13.59m to keep up her torrid pace.
"For the women, we knew we had the most well-rounded team in the KCAC and that it would show in the point totals," said Brun.
"Ending Day one, we expected to be down to USM but knew we had to maximize our finalists in the 60m, 60m hurdles, and the 200m for the next day, which we executed perfectly. It was midway through Day two that we expected to take the lead and then work as hard as possible to hang on through the finish. We had so many people step up in huge ways. Kortney made her final indoor conference meet a special one with two throws titles and a meet record. Elaina had a great weekend in the jumps and secured a title in the TJ. Caroline was so pivotal in securing the team title with her stellar weekend, racking up big points and three national qualifying standards in the mile, 1K, and 3K. Aubry ran strong in a tough stretch of the 600, 800 and 1K which helped us hang on to our lead. Overall, we saw all of our women step up when it mattered and it was great to see them come out on top."
For the men on day one, Brayden Wells (SR/Wichita, Kan. ) continued to keep the competition at arm's length with his third straight KCAC championship performance in the weight throw. The senior from Wichita outdid himself this year with a meet record 18.85m, with teammate Isaac Campbell (SR/Sedan, Kan.) coming in third (15.50m).
In the pole vault, the Falcon men swept the event with the top three finishers, as Garrett Lewis (FR/Fate, Texas) (first, 4.50m), Brian Sweney (FR/Kansas City, Mo.) (second, 4.35m) and Marcquiece Cade (FR/Concordia, Kan. ) (third, 4.05m) dominated the podium.
The team of Josiah Bolton (JR/Ellsworth, Kan. ), Avery Stuever (SR/Wichita, Kan.), Aaron Terrell (FR/South Holland, Ill.) & Eli Jacobson (SO/Towanda, Kan. ) then posted a third-place finish and NAIA "A" standard time (7:57.42) in the Men's 4 X 800 relay for the Falcons.
The Falcon men wasn't done on the first day and got a 1-2 finish in the long jump when Chiante Stewart (SR/Calhan, Co.) took home the title with a mark of 6.91m and Cade came in second (6.78m).
Campbell then recorded a second-place performance in the shot put early on day two, hitting the NAIA "A" standard (15.81) before Cade found his way on the podium with an NAIA "B" standard of third place in the high jump (2.01m).
Emad Bashir-Mohammed got on the board for the Falcons by coming in third with an NAIA "B" standard time of 15.08.89 in the 5000 meter run before nailing the "A" standard with another podium finish of third in the mile run (4:18.10).
The 600 meter run featured Avery Stuever notching a podium outcome of third place while achieving the "B" standard mark by running a time of 1:22.79.
The Falcons also got big points in the 1,000 meter event when Josiah Bolton finished third (2:36.41).
Cade continued his fantastic freshman campaign by coming out on top in the 60 hurdles finals with an automatic qualifying mark of 8:12 to be named the overall KCAC Athlete of the Meet.
The 4 X 400 relay was also good to the Falcons, with the unit of Casey Mosley (SR/Garland, Texas), Stuever, Jules Collignon (FR/Remicourt, Belgium) and Cade producing a second-place result in the event (3:27.96).
Stewart then capped his effort with a championship in the triple jump that was good for the "A" standard (14.39m) to earn him KCAC Field Athlete of the Meet honors.
"This past weekend for the men was a battle of two Top-10 teams in the NAIA so we were expecting a good fight with USM," said Brun.
"Our men came with focus and we started the weekend on some very high notes in the field events. As the final day unfolded we did everything we could to cling onto our lead but the depth of USM served to be the difference in the end. We still had an incredible meet of performances. Chiante made his final indoor conference meet one to remember with a title sweep of the LJ and TJ, setting a meet record and school record in the TJ and earning Field Athlete of the Meet. Marcquiece made his presence known all weekend long with great performances in the PV, LJ, HJ, and a dominate meet record and school record in the 60m hurdles – his efforts earned him the overall Athlete of the Meet. Brayden ended his KCAC indoor career as the best to ever do it in the Weight Throw, earning the event title and the meet record. Emad continued to show that he is the best distance runner in our program's history with impressive races in the mile and 5K. This is a special group of men."
Both Falcon squads are now gearing up for the NAIA Indoor Meet starting on Mar. 3 in Brookings, S.D.
"Looking forward to NAIA nationals in the next two weeks, we have 29 athletes traveling which is the largest group in program history," said Brun. "With the majority of our qualifiers hitting the "A" standard, we know we have a good chance of going into the meet and working toward top-five finishes on both sides. We will take a couple days to rest up from this weekend and get our bodies ready for the NAIA meet."