Photo by Elenna Koenig | The Doane Owl
On Feb. 20, the Men’s and Women’s track and field teams traveled 240 miles to Sioux Center, Iowa, to compete in the two-day Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Championships, where the Men’s team walked away as Champions while the Women’s team walked away in second place.
Starting with the Heptathlon was junior Addison Croghan, who had a total of 4,852 points, which placed him second. Also placing second, but in the Pentathlon was junior Chaney Nelson, who had a total score of 3,161 points.
Going into the field events, placing first and second in the Men’s shot put were senior Cale Bessler and senior Andrew Schmitz. Bessler had a mark of 16.85m, and Schmitz had a mark of 16.39m. Placing second and third in the Women’s shot put were junior Delaney Burge, with a mark of 13.39m, and sophomore Madison Heusinkvelt, with a mark of 13.34m. Finishing off the throws was Schmitz, who placed first in the Men’s weight throw with a mark of 18.98m.
Taking the top three in the Men’s triple jump were junior Brian Cech, Callan McKinney, and Mason Bahm. Cech had a mark of 14.61m, McKinney finished with a mark of 14.09m and Bahm had a mark of 13.95m. Finishing in second in the Women’s triple jump was junior Kyla Davis, who had a mark of 11.71m. Placing second in the Men’s long jump was Cech, who had a mark of 7.26m.
In the women’s pole vault, placing first and third were junior Kaylee Pribyl and freshman Avery Scott. Pribyl had a mark of 3.75m while Scott had a mark of 3.65m. Placing second and third in the Men’s high jump were junior Cooper Girmus, who had a mark of 1.99m, and junior Andrew Harms, who finished with a mark of 1.94m.
Transitioning into running events, placing first and second in the Women’s 60m were junior Neryah Hekl, with a time of 7.47, and senior Tania Gleason, with a time of 7.56, where she also walked away as female outstanding athlete for this meet. Taking the top three in the Women’s 200m were Gleason, freshman Elizabeth Wemhoff and senior Kat Vogt. Gleason had a time of 24.41, with Wemhoff having a time of 24.71 and Vogt finishing with a time of 24.81.
Finishing in first in the Women’s 400m was Vogt, who had a time of 56.47. Taking home second and third in the Women’s 600m were senior Danie Parriott, with a time of 1:36.99, and freshman Jayden Meyer, with a time of 1:37.16.
In the Men’s 1000m, senior Michael Grigsby walked away with first with a time of 2:32.07. But placing third in the Women’s 1000m was Parriott, who had a time of 3:05.75. In the Men’s mile, Grigsby walked away in second with a time of 4:20.54.
Placing first and third in the Men’s 3000m were sophomore Porter Bickley, with a time of 8:42.34, and sophomore Alvin Keter, with a time of 8:44.83. Taking second in the 5000m was Keter, with a time of 15:00.44, with sophomore Jayden Wall placing third with a time of 15:13.63.
Jumping in the 60m Women’s hurdles was senior Josie Garrett with a time of 8.88, and in the Men’s hurdles was freshman Tommy Smith, who had a time of 8.30. Finishing up was the Women’s 4×400, where Vogt, Gleason, junior Kiley Hejtmanek and Meyer placed first with a time of 3:52.63.
Next up, the Tigers be traveling to Gainesville, Florida, to compete in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Championships on March 5-7.
Graphics by Hailey Schweitzer | The Doane Owl
