Track athletes rolled out of their beds Saturday knowing it would be a day to show friends and family their capabilities on a big stage.
Liston Stadium was home to the Heart of America Athletic Conference championship where titles were won and injuries were unavoidable.
The women’s team took fourth place, and the men finished in seventh. Seniors Lori Seidl and Brent Randle really stepped it up and were the highest-point scorers on the teams, head coach Rob Mallinder said.
Seidl finished third in both the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles with times of 16.43 seconds and 1:08.19, respectively. Randle’s best performances included a second-place triple jump and a fourth-place long jump.
Senior Matt Kmiec said he was pleased he took second place in the pole vault with a height of 4.25 meters, especially as this was the last intercollegiate meet for him and his fellow seniors.
“It was really nice to end my career on a good note,” he said. “I jumped as well as I have at Baker, and I jumped the best I have all year. I’m happy with my career at Baker.”
Sophomore pole-vaulter Chelsey Ornburn took first place with a height of 3.35 meters. Kmiec said the future is looking bright for this particular field event.
“We’re kind of the pole-vaulting powerhouses in the conference, and (Mackie has) got a lot of good recruits coming in next year,” Kmiec said.
Sophomores Ari Penner and Amber Keith finished first and second, respectively, in the 3,000-meter race-walk.
Sophomore Katey Wegemer finished the heptathlon with 3,065 points, which earned her second place. Sophomore Regan Boyer finished right behind Wegemer in third place with 2,939 points.
Mallinder said the meet went well despite a leg injury suffered by freshman Ashlee Miller.
“Overall, I’m happy with how the team performed,” he said. “I think we maximized our scoring on the women’s side given the unfortunate injury.”
After finishing the javelin, high jump, long jump and preliminaries in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, Miller pulled her hamstring while running the third leg of the women’s 4×400-meter relay.
“I felt going into the meet that I would do pretty well. Conference is suppose to be this big track meet, but to me it’s just another meet,” Miller said. “I had just got done with the high jump, and they called me over to the 4×4, and my leg had been hurting all day.”
She said her hamstring had been bothering her before outdoor season even began, but that the injury is recoverable.
“At this point, from my latest reports from Ashlee and athletic trainers, she’s going to be fine before nationals,” Mallinder said.
The Outdoor Track and Field National Championships will be held May 24 at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, Calif. Miller will have roughly three weeks to recuperate and prepare for the long jump and heptathlon events.
Also making the trip to the national meet is the women’s 4×400 relay team of Seidl, Wegemer, freshman Kelsey Heckathorne and senior LaTasha Roberts.
On the men’s side, Randle will attend the national meet for his final time in the triple jump, freshman Matthew James will compete in the 400 hurdles, and junior Richie Bryant will compete in the 100-meter dash.
The athletes on the cusp of qualifying for nationals will be given a chance at Central Iowa University today. Also, some athletes will be traveling Thursday to Emporia State University to compete.
“We could have more individuals going to nationals. We’ll just have to wait and see,” Mallinder said.collegiate meet for him and his fellow seniors.
“It was really nice to end my career on a good note,” he said. “I jumped as well as I have at Baker, and I jumped the best I have all year. I’m happy with my career at Baker.”
Sophomore pole-vaulter Chelsey Ornburn took first place with a height of 3.35 meters.
“We’re kind of the pole-vaulting powerhouses in the conference, and (Mackie has) got a lot of good recruits coming in next year,” Kmiec said.
Sophomores Ari Penner and Amber Keith finished first and second, respectively, in the 3,000-meter race-walk.
Sophomore Katey Wegemer finished the heptathlon with 3,065 points, which earned her second place.
Sophomore Regan Boyer finished right behind Wegemer in third place with 2,939 points.
Mallinder said the meet went well despite a leg injury suffered by freshman Ashlee Miller.
“Overall, I’m happy with how the team performed,” he said. “I think we maximized our scoring on the women’s side given the unfortunate injury.”
After finishing the javelin, high jump, long jump and preliminaries in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash, Miller pulled her hamstring while running the third leg of the women’s 4×400-meter relay.
“I felt going into the meet that I would do pretty well. Conference is suppose to be this big track meet, but to me it’s just another meet,” Miller said. “I had just got done with the high jump, and they called me over to the 4×4, and my leg had been hurting all day.”
She said her hamstring had been bothering her before outdoor season even began, but that the injury is recoverable.
The Outdoor Track and Field National Championships will be held May 24 at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, Calif.
Also making the trip to the national meet is the women’s 4×400 relay team of Seidl, Wegemer, freshman Kelsey Heckathorne and senior LaTasha Roberts.
Randle will attend the national meet for his final time in the triple jump, freshman Matthew James will compete in the 400 hurdles, and junior Richie Bryant will compete in the 100-meter dash.