It's a jungle out there🦍
Pitt State wins it all & 26 athletes are heading to Eugene
It was such a great weekend for Kansas running, I had to write a second one just for the collegiate recap. For those who weren’t aware, there were two championship meets and one regional meet this past weekend. The NCAA had its Division II championships in Allendale, MI, at Grand Valley State, while the NAIA ended their year down in Gulf Shores, AL. The Division I athletes competed to qualify for their national meet at the Western Regional hosted by the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, AR. If you don’t mind, I’m going to bring you up to speed.
Who runs the world? Pittsburg State🦍
West Texas A&M, Grand Valley State and Texas A&M-Commerce—those were the predicted top three finishers for the men’s team race based off of the USTFCCCA rankings heading into championship weekend. The Pittsburg State men were predicted fourth heading in, but the odds weren’t really in their favor. Multi-athlete Trey Mooney, the 2021 indoor national champion and 2nd and 3rd at the most recent national championships, was not on the entry sheet. Not only was the star multi-athlete out of the game plan, the chances of a Gorilla win was even less likely. Well, at least that’s what the rest of DII thought.
Let’s just say, enough went right for Pittsburg State on their own team, and other team’s unfortunate results aided the men. For starters, both Brandon Miller (GVSU) and Benjamin Azmati (WTA&M) had a false start in the first round of the 100m dash, while Jalen Purcell didn’t start the race, nor any other event during the meet. That left the next round without the #7, #1, and #3 sprinters in the nation. Instead of talking about what went wrong for other teams, let’s highlight what went right for the Gorillas.
Complemented by ten All-Americans and a pair of individual national champions, the Gorillas scored points in ten events to total 70 points over the three days. Braylen Brewer and Louis Rollins each ascended to their DII throne. Brewer won the 400m dash, setting a personal best of 45.77 in the final—his first time under the 46 second barrier. The Maud, OK, native is ranked the 33rd fastest collegian in the country. Rollins, who didn’t compete during the indoor season, won his first national title, running 13.65 in the 100mH, winning by .15 of a second. Rollins is the 10th fastest collegian in the nation, and even more impressive, he’d most likely be preparing for Eugene, if he were in Division I.
In the 1500m, Connar Southard (3:47.53) and Mason Strader (3:48.00) placed 4th and 7th, while Bryce Grahn finished 5th in the 3000m steeplechase, with a shiny new PR of 8:49.75. Each of the three also finished at least one spot higher than they were seeded heading into the meet.
Joining Rollins on the podium for the 110mH was TJ Caldwell, running a PR (no wind) of 13.89. In the world of relays, both the 4x100m and 4x400m improved on their preliminary finish. The squad of Rollins, Brewer, L.J. Kiner and Tevin Wright-Rose took 5th, clocking a near season best of 40.08 in the 4x100m. The 4x400m team, made up of Sam Tudor, Bailey Stone, Nizar Alarahshun and Brewer finished as the national runner-ups in 3:06.31.
In the long and triple jump, Kiner did what he does best—scores. Taking 3rd in the long jump and 2nd in the triple jump, the former Coffeyville Red Raven set a personal best of 25’ 4” in the long, and came up short in a PR for the triple, ending with a best of 52’ 0”.
Caleb Calvin and Konner Swenson each held down the throws, with Calvin leaving with a 4th place finish in the javelin, and Swenson finishing 7th in the hammer. Calvin’s toss of 223’ 11” was a new PR, and Swenson was close to a PR, landing 199’ 3” away from the ring.
A heck of a weekend for the men of Pittsburg State, outscoring West Texas A&M and Grand Valley State 70-61-56, solidifying the team standings during the fastest 4x400m of the season.
To everyone who is a part of the Pittsburg State organization—Congratulations on a great season and a dominant finish to the school year!
Kansas All-Americans🌻
I’ve got to make sure we don’t leave any other Kansas athletes out of the spotlight, especially since we had fourteen other All-Americans that weren’t on the Pittsburg State men’s team.
While we’re at it, let’s finish the crimson and gold and talk about the six Gorilla women who brought home hardware. Christine Williams was the lone individual All-American sprinter for the team, taking 7th in the 200m with a time of 23.81. The 4x100m team of Audreanae Hagan, Williams, Jamiya Morgan and Blakelee Winn put together a 45.14, good enough for a 4th place finish. In the pole vault, Isabelle Peters finished 3rd on the podium, clearing 13’ 11.25”. Madison Reese threw the javelin 149’ 5”, far enough for a 7th place finish. In the heptathlon, Winn and Trace Mosby put up 5403 and 5313 points to help the pair finish 3rd and 5th in the nation.
Washburn University had two Ichabods finish as first-team All-Americans, as Virgi Scardanzan and Romain Henry competed in the pole vault and the 110mH. Scardanzan ended her collegiate career with a runner-up finish, adding her third runner-up finish to her résumé. Henry continued his perfect streak of All-American finishes, running his way to an 8th place finish in 14.23 for his third medal in as many championship meets.
Fort Hays State left Michigan with five All-Americans, one in each of the following events: javelin, 100m, 400mH, pole vault, decathlon. The javelin medalist was Addie Berens, who finished 4th with a throw of 153’ 4”. Lyric Holman finished 8th in the 100m dash, crossing the line in 11.96. Mattie Rossi was less than a second away from a national title, as she finished runner-up in the 400mH in 58.11, a new PR. Ryan Stanley collected his fifth NCAA medal in the pole vault, clearing 16’ 8.75”. Finally, Nolan Churchman totaled 7192 points in the decathlon, winning the 400m and 100m during his ten-event span. He finished fifth in the event, which marked his best ever finish at the meet.
Holly Brockmeier was the lone Emporia State All-American, as she took 6th in the javelin—earning her first NCAA medal along with a PR of 150’ 1”.
The DI West Regional, home of the #butterboystailgate🧈
The title may not make a ton of sense, but if you know you know. It really doesn’t matter though, because Kansas will be represented in twelve events during the DI National Championships next weekend in Eugene, OR. Time for roll call!
For the Wildcats, Shalysa Wray is going in the 400m, while Kassidy Johnson is competing in the 800m. Wurrie Njadoe is running the 200m along with the 4x400m, joined by O’Shalia Johnson, Alex Ferguson, and Wray. Velecia Williams and Tommi Hintaus punched their tickets in the long jump and pole vault. The men’s 4x400m is also competing in Eugene; Timmy Lambert, Sean Wilson, Antonio Hanson, and Kyle Gale make up the squad. Kade McCall is throwing the hammer, as Tejaswin Shankar and Kyle Alcine will be in the high jump.
Joining their rivals are ten Jayhawks, starting with Alexandra Emilianov in the discus, and Rylee Anderson in the high jump. The 4x400m quartet is made up by Mariah Kuykendoll, Anna Siemens, Satanya Wright, and Honour Finley. Finley is also in the 800m. The three Jayhawk men are the pole vaulting duo of Zach Bradford and Clayton Simms, along with decathlete Alexander Jung.
There are two Shocker athletes heading to the Pacific Northwest as well, as Taran Taylor and Michael Bryan will be throwing the javelin and the hammer.
We’re less than a week out, so start getting ready. Find your popcorn, cause it’s going to be a good one.
Clara Mayfield x DIII🏅
The former state champion and Manhattan star continues to quietly shine amongst the DII ranks, as Clara Mayfield added her fourth All-American honor to her growing list of accolades. She’s collected two in cross country (30th—’19, 10th—’21), along with two on the track, one in the indoor mile (‘22) and most recently, the 10,000m last weekend. As of now, Mayfield has built up PR’s of 4:35.33 (1500m), 4:52.70 (Mile), 9:35.77 (3000m), 16:33.04 (5000m), and 34:41.51 (10,000m).
Track mixed with a little bit of swamp🐊
Another year, another humid NAIA national championship. Though the humidity and conditions are always huge obstacles that athletes have to overcome, Kansas athletes from ten different NAIA programs produced two national champions and twenty-four All-Americans.
The two universities with the most hardware were the St. Mary Spires and the Friends Falcons. The Spires had placers in the 200m, 400m, half-marathon, 10,000m and the 1500m. Not to mention—the men’s 4x400m were crowned national champions, but I’ll get to that. In the 200m, senior Corey Lyons finished 7th, collecting what would be his 10th All-American honor (by the time the meet was finished), and his first in any event that doesn’t have “400m” somewhere in the name. Lyons also finished runner-up in the 400m dash, clocking a new PR, school record, and his second career sub-47. His first sub-47 came just a day before in the prelims.
Just as the sprint team had a great weekend, the distance squad wasn’t too shabby either. In the half-marathon, Jared Stark and Lexi Inscho, the lone female All-American for the Spires, both took 8th in the brutal half-marathon. Stark ran 1:10.52, and Inscho clocked 1:28.15. In the 10k, Johnathan Bowen was just three seconds away from the national title, finishing runner-up in 30:22.99. The race came down to the bell lap, as the eventual winner and Bowen had run the entirety of the race together, and were neck and neck at 9600m. The eventual winner, Robert Swoboda of Corban closed in a 61, while the Spire closed in a 64, his fastest lap of the race. In the 1500, Luis Perez continued to have a spectacular season, as he finished 6th in the 1500m in 3:53.93. Now that 4x400m I mentioned—here’s what went down. Long story short, Lyons is the fastest man in the NAIA. After the third leg of both Mount Marty’s and St. Mary’s relay, the Spires were behind by close to half of a second. Mount Marty’s anchor Nathan Simons closed in a 46.7. Sorry Mount Marty, that wasn’t enough for Lyons who split a 45.35, the 19th fastest time throughout all collegians in the United States. Finally, after finishing runner-up last year at the indoor championships, the Spire 4x400m finally got their national title, edging out the Lancers 3:10.82-3:11.37.
The Falcons’ had four Americans, with a pair in the women’s 800m and men’s 5000m Racewalk. Aubry Donley (2:11.44) and Aileen Gurrola (2:17.81) took care of business in the two-lap race, finishing 2-5 in the preliminaries as the duo each recorded a new PR. In the final, Donley finished as the national runner-up, and Gurrola took 8th—the 9th and 8th All-American honor for the two. Pablo Sanz-Rillo (23:54.65) and Gage Carr (24:02.84) competed in the 5000m Racewalk, taking 6th and 8th respectively. Friends was one of two programs to have multiple All-American finishers in the event, joining British Columbia who had three.
Tabor had two All-Americans as Toby Penner took 5th in the 400mH in 52.23, while teammate Vance Shewey was the third place finisher in the high jump, clearing 6’ 11” in the process. Baker had a single All-American in Hunter Krom, who took 4th in the javelin with a throw of 203’ 3”. Southwestern had a duo of individual All-Americans, with Tony Kinser (6’ 6.75”) tying for 7th in the high jump, and Chris Moffett (47.20) finishing 4th in the 400m. Moffett also anchored the 3rd place 4x400m team in 45.86. Joined by David Mvundura, Slavoski Wright and Corey Durham, the quartet ran 3:12.09, finishing a second ahead of 4th.
The Ottawa Braves had a pair of All-Americans in the javelin, with Jacob Ludwick (199’ 9”) and Laurel Barber (140’ 5”) taking 5th and 7th in the men’s and women’s competitions. McPherson’s Dylan Templeman collected a pair of All-American honors, taking 4th and 5th in the discus (166’ 9”) and shot put (56’ 1”). Like Templeman, Sterling’s Corrssia Perry earned All-American twice, in the 200m and 400m. She finished 8th and 5th in each, running 24.63 and 55.42 in each final. The Coyotes of Kansas Wesleyan had three 5th place finishers, including Tabetha Deines in the 800m, Stephanie Martinez in the half-marathon, and Kalil Murphy in the triple jump. Last but not least, is our second national champion from the weekend—Benedictine thrower Madison Sutton. At the indoor championship in March, Sutton was runner-up in both the shot put and weight throw, so it only made sense she finally won her first national title. However, it was the discus where she took down the entirety of the NAIA. Sutton threw a PR of 158’ 5”, almost an entire foot ahead of the runner-up.
The team standings looked a little something like this.
Men
St. Mary — 4th🏅
Southwestern — 30th
Tabor — T-32nd
McPherson — 37th
Baker — T-56th
Ottawa — T-62nd
Friends — T-62nd
Kansas Wesleyan — T-62nd
Women
Benedictine — 26th
Friends — 30th
Kansas Wesleyan — 31st
Sterling — 46th
Ottawa — 55th
St. Mary — 63rd
Yes, that is, in fact, the third team trophy that the St. Mary men have won this year. The team finished runner-up in cross country last fall, and then 4th place in both track & field championships. Have a year Alstin Benton and company!
All that stands between us and the end of the collegiate track and field season is the NCAA DI National Championship that will take place next weekend in Tracktown USA. Soak it all in while you can, because soon we’ll be talking about cross country, and track will be a thing of the past. A high school state championship recap will be going out later today (06/03), so keep an eye on your inbox for that, because it’s going to be packed full of content.