[Track and Field] Men's Falcons Post Runner-Up Finish at KCAC Outdoor Track & Field ...
Ottawa, Kan. – The Friends University Men's Outdoor Track & Field Falcons recorded their second consecutive runner-up finish at the KCAC Championship meet, while the Women's Falcons wound up third overall.
Brayden Wells set the tone and got the Falcons off to a great start by winning the Hammer Throw with an NAIA "A" and "B" Standard mark of 54.96m.
The first day of full competition saw Chiante Stewart give the Falcons a KCAC Championship in the Triple Jump with a mark of 14.30m.
Noah Myers then started day two with a conference title in the Long Jump (7.16m), while Stewart came in as the runner-up (7.08m) in the event. Avery Stuever followed that with a victory in the 800 meter run (1:54.63).
Myers also came in second in the Javelin (56.53m) that qualified as an NAIA "B" standard mark.
Cadin Gustafson produced a pair of top-three finishes for the Falcons, coming in second in the Pole Vault (3.95m) and winding up third in the 400 Hurdles (55.80).
Joshua Sorensen posted an NAIA "B" standard time and finished third in the 3000m Steeplechase (9:27.78), with Stewart registering another podium result by finishing third in the High Jump (1.95m).
The Falcons also came in third in both the 4 X 400 relay (3:23.07, Casey Mosley, Eli Jacobson, Logan Mount, Stuever) and the 4 X 800 relay (8:00.81, Logan White, Jacobson, Stuever, Logan Anglemyer).
"The KCAC meet was a battle for both the men's and women's sides," said Friends track & field head coach Henry Brun. "For the men, there were a couple injuries that prevented some of our top runners from competing and it hindered our ability to maximize point scoring opportunities. We still handled our business with some excellent performances on both the running and field events, some great all-conference efforts, and some athletes either punched their ticket to the national meet or moved pretty close to it."
On the women's side, it was Makenzie Burns giving the Falcons a second-place result in the Hammer Throw (44.09m) on the opening day.
The Falcons then occupied two of the top three positions in the Triple Jump, as Elaina Henderson finished as the runner-up (11.75m) and Anya Walton was right behind in third (11.68m). Henderson's mark hit both the NAIA "A" and "B" Standard, while Walton achieved the NAIA "B" Standard.
Caroline Giles, Miranda Tenove, Aileen Gurrola and Aubry Donley then teamed up for a runner-up showing in the 4 X 800 relay (9:44.71).
Henderson wasn't through and grabbed a runner-up finish in the 100m Hurdles (16.31), with Tenove following that with a third-place showing in the 800 meters (2:21.41).
It was then time for a championship and Cassandra Loesch obliged, winning the Discus conference title with a mark of 40.27m before taking third place in the Shot Put (11.93m).
The meet was capped with the Falcons taking the second spot in the 4 X 400 relay behind the team of Maria Botella-Manich, Josie Russell, Tenove, and Kaitlynn Massey (4:08.59).
"The women's side fell victim to injuries as well, as our top three middle distance women were unable to compete at the championship meet," said Brun. "Our team rallied behind the supporting cast and we worked our way into a top three team finish, which is pretty great to see from some young members of the team really stepping up in a time of need."
Following this weekend's Last Chance Meets, the Falcons will fully prepare for the NAIA National Meet, set for May 26-28 at Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium in Gulf Shores, Ala.
"I spoke with members of the team after the meet about what the future of this program looks like," said Brun. "We are graduating a small group of seniors and they will be greatly missed. The team as a whole is very young and will only get younger with the large incoming class this fall. We can consider a second and third place finish as a bump in the road, but we must remember that we get to decide how we react to adversity and what next season looks like for us."
"The offseason is a time where athletes get the quality rest they need and my coaching staff gets to work on making the appropriate adjustments in their training plans to ensure we have the success we want in 2022. I am the first to admit that there are things we did exceptionally well and there are also things that we definitely need to adjust. The mindset of positive constructive criticism is what builds championship-caliber programs and that is our next step.
We aren't finished just yet, as we have a few athletes preparing for last chance qualifier meets this weekend and we currently have 16 athletes already fine-tuning for competition at the national championship meet. It will be an exciting final three weeks of competition!"