Home / Sports / Women’s track and field team competes in Gorilla Classic

Women’s track and field team competes in Gorilla Classic

The women’s track and field team stayed home last week for the 13th Annual David Suenram Gorilla Classic on Sunday, April 11.  

Haven Lander, senior in Human Resources Development, thought the team perform well at the meet.  

“It was a great competition this week,” Lander said. “I’m always proud of my team and how hard they work and compete for each competition. It’s always a lot of fun to watch.”  

Lander is one of the top pole vault performers in NCAA Division II. She captured both the indoor and outdoor national championship in the pole vault in 2019. Additionally, Lander holds both the Pitt State indoor and outdoor records in the pole vault.  

At the Gorilla Classic competition, Lander won the pole vault.  

“It always feels good to get back up there even when you didn’t perform like you wanted,” Lander said. “I’m still always grateful to come away with a win and it really gives me more drive to do better next week.”  

London Futch won the 400 meters. Madison Reese placed second in the javelin and Megan Eckman placed second in the high jump.  

According to Lander, the biggest achievement of the competition came from the men’s track and field team.  

“There were a lot of people that performed well this past weekend,” Lander said. “We saw a lot of PRs and some records be broken. I think the biggest one that stood out from them all was Brett Thompson with his javelin throw. That was pretty insane.”  

In other women’s track and field news, Trace Mosby was recently named a finalist for the 2020 to 2021 MIAA Winter Student-Athlete of the Year award. The Student-Athlete of the Year awards are the Association’s highest honor for student-athletes during the winter sports season. Female Finalists for the award this year are Mosby, Hunter Bentley of Washburn, Ashlan Burton of Central Missouri, Kelsey Johnson of Central Oklahoma, and Whitney Randall of Fort Hays State.  

One male will be chosen for the award as well. Pittsburg State’s Trey Mooney was named a male finalist for the award as well. Other finalists for the award include Kizan David of Lincoln, Tyler Geiman of Washburn, Chris Goodwin of Central Missouri, and Jared Vitztum of Fort Hays State. 

Winners of the Winter Student-Athlete of the Year awards will be announced on Thursday, April 15. 

The Gorillas will travel to Warrensburg, Mo. to compete in the UCM Mule Relays on Friday, April 16.  

The outdoor track and field teams only have a couple of competitions left until the MIAA Outdoor Championships, which Pittsburg State will play host to from Saturday, May 8 through Sunday, May 9. 

After that is the NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships which will take place in Allendale, Mich. from Thursday, May 27 through Saturday, May 29.  

Check Also

Gorillas return home against Riverhawks  

Curtis Meyer reporter  With a win at Nebraska Kearney last week, the Gorillas look to …

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: