The gate at Liston Stadium was wide open Saturday, allowing students and the community to watch the track and field teams compete at the Baker Relays.
Baker University athletes took first place in eight events. Amid the success, one athlete broke the school record in an event, and two athletes qualified for the national meet.
Freshman Ashlee Miller broke the school record in the women’s 400-meter dash with a time of 58.13 seconds but placed second in the race. This time qualified her for nationals, while her distance of 5.47 meters in the long jump also was a qualifying mark.
Senior Brent Randle won the triple jump with a distance of 14.27 meters and earned his trip to the national meet.
Other athletes to earn first-place individual honors were sophomore Ari Penner in the 3000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Chelsey Ornburn in the pole vault, sophomore Richie Bryant in the long jump, freshman Matthew James in the 400-meter hurdles and senior Matt Kmiec in the pole vault.
Freshman Brandon Hubbard, junior Zac Towns, Randle and James combined in the men’s 4×4 event to earn first place. Freshman Kelsey Heckathorne, senior Lori Seidl, sophomore Katey Wegemer and Miller comprised the women’s 4×4 event, which also took first place.
Head coach Rob Mallinder said this was a good meet to reflect on the teams.
“This was a good meet for the coaches to evaluate where our athletes are at this point, and the results show we are on track,” he said.
This was the first outdoor meet of the season for the team in this state and offered the athletes their first look at conference opponents. Schools in the Heart of America Athletic Conference that competed were William Jewell College, Benedictine College and Missouri Valley College.
“It was a good feel for the first meet to see where the other conference schools are in relation to you,” Kmiec said.
The Baker Relays meet has not taken place since 2001 but has a bright future, Mallinder said.
“2001 was the last time we had the meet because invited schools stopped coming to our meet because of facilities,” he said. “I would hope with a few improvements to our current facility, I can see no reason why this particular meet shouldn’t grow in number to 12 to 15 college teams.”
The meet was composed of nine men’s teams and eight women’s teams. The women’s team placed second, and the men placed fourth.
Just like home-field advantage in any other sport, friends and family in the stands motivated the athletes, James said.
“People still wanted to push hard and win in front of their friends,” he said. “People don’t like to lose in front of their friends and family.”
James was on the winning 4×4 team and said the athletes on the relay team also helped him focus on the event
“As a team, we helped each other out a lot. We each pushed each other and didn’t want to disappoint each other, so we ran harder,” he said.
The weather was ideal for a track meet, with temperatures in the 70s and a slight wind, Mallinder said.
“The wind, in retrospect, helped in some events and probably played less of a factor in other events,” he said.
Kmiec said the wind was beneficial to him and other athletes.
“We had a perfect tailwind for the pole vault and all the jumping events,” he said. “As far as the weather goes, it was probably the best meet in March in Kansas that I’ve ever been to.”
Mallinder said he is taking 24 athletes Friday and Saturday to the Mizzou Relays to compete against 18 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I schools, six NCAA Division II schools, nine National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics schools and two junior colleges. Miller will be the only athlete to compete Sunday and Monday in the Northwest Multis at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Mo.in the pole vault, sophomore Richie Bryant in the long jump, freshman Matthew James in the 400-meter hurdles and senior Matt Kmiec in the pole vault.
Freshman Brandon Hubbard, junior Zac Towns, Randle and James combined in the men’s 4×4 event to earn first place. Freshman Kelsey Heckathorne, senior Lori Seidl, sophomore Katey Wegemer and Miller comprised the women’s 4×4 event, which also took first place.
Head coach Rob Mallinder said this was a good meet to reflect on the teams.
“This was a good meet for the coaches to evaluate where our athletes are at this point, and the results show we are on track,” he said.
This was the first outdoor meet of the season for the team in this state and offered the athletes their first look at conference opponents.
Schools in the Heart of America Athletic Conference that competed were William Jewell College, Benedictine College and Missouri Valley College.
“It was a good feel for the first meet to see where the other conference schools are in relation to you,” Kmiec said.
The Baker Relays meet has not taken place since 2001 but has a bright future, Mallinder said.
The women’s team placed second, and the men placed fourth.
Just like home-field advantage in any other sport, friends and family in the stands motivated the athletes, James said.