Home / Sports / Men’s track and field team claims MIAA Indoor Championships, women place third

Men’s track and field team claims MIAA Indoor Championships, women place third

The track and field teams competed in the MIAA Indoor Championship from Saturday, Feb. 27 to Sunday, Feb. 28 in Topeka at the Washburn University Indoor Athletic Facility.  

The men’s team racked up a total of 122 points to beat Missouri Southern by ten points. PSU beat out Missouri Southern by ten points and Northwest Missouri followed in third lace with 99 points.  

The women’s team compiled a total of 103 points. Central Missouri claimed the MIAA crown with 137 points while MSSU finished second with 122 points.  

Raymond Brass claims the MIAA title in the 60-meter hurdles, Tevin Wright-Rose in the 60 meters. The Gorillas also saw a few second-place finishes, Konner Swenson in the shot put, Southard in the mile, and Bryce Grahn in the 3,000 meters. Matthew Wilson raced to a third-place finish in the 600-yard run and beat his own school record time while Cole Sample placed third in the shot put. Hunter Jones added a third place finished in the heptathlon and the 4×400 meter relay of Nizar Alarahshun, Graham Hudelson, Bailey Stone, and Sam Tudor placed third. Mason Strader finished fourth in the mile. Wright-Rose placed fifth in the 20-meters and Colin Webber placed fifth in the 800 meters.  

“We did really well,” Southard, a senior in exercise science, said. “We had a lot of guys over perform, kind of show up when they needed to and do a lot better than they were expected which was big. We needed performances like that and guys doing exactly what they needed to, getting points and just showing up.”  

On the women’s team, Haven Lander claimed the MIAA title in the pole vault and set a new PSU indoor record in the event. Asia Anderson won the long jump. Christine Williams and London Futch raced to first place finishes in the 200 meters and the 400 meters, respectively. Trace Mosby finished second in the pentathlon. Anderson added a second-place finish in the long jump and Auna Childress placed second in the triple jump. Hannah Honeyman placed third in the 5,000 meters. Christine added a fourth-place finish in the 60-meters. Matti Price placed fourth in the 400 meters and Camryn Williams placed fourth in the shot put. Madelyn Marquez placed sixth in the 60 meters hurdles,  

Lander, a graduate student in human resources development,  

“I think our did absolutely amazing,” Lander said. “It does always suck to come away knowing we didn’t win but I think that everybody got out there and performed the absolute best that they possible could and I could not be any prouder… (of how) everybody did this last weekend.”  

Next up for the Gorillas is the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships from Thursday, March 11 to Saturday, March 13 in Birmingham, Ala.  

“Hopefully winning another national title but really I’m looking forward to going in and seeing all the competition and just trying to improve with what I’ve done so far this year and preform my absolute best,” Lander said. “It’s just always a lot of fun to get out there and jump with people that you don’t really see throughout the year. It’s just always a lot of new competition and it’s always something to really look forward to.” 

17 track and field athletes qualified for the NCAA championships. On the men’s side, Trey Mooney enters the meet ranked number one in the heptathlon. Cameron Wright qualified fourth in the pole vault. The distance medley relay team of Graham Hudelson, Connar Southard, Mason Strader, and Matthew Wilson qualified fifth while the 4x400m relay of Nizar Alarahshun, Graham Hudelson, Bailey Stone, and Sam Tudor also qualified fifth. Hunter Jones qualified seventh in the heptathlon, Strader qualified ninth in the mile, and Swenson qualified tenth in the shot put.  

On the women’s team, Lander is tied for the first-place rank in the pole vault. Futch qualified second in the 400 meters. Mosby is ranked fourth in the pentathlon. Childress qualified sixth in the triple jump, Christine Williams eighth in the 200 meters, and Anderson tenth in the long jump.  

“I’m looking forward to actually competing at nationals this year,” Southard said. “(We) went last year and then the pandemic kind of happened and kind of didn’t get to actually run. So, getting to actually run is kind of a big thing for me this year. (I’m also looking forward to) having my guys in the relay come with me this year…”  

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