02/22/08
The Baker University track team has six indoor meets under its belt as Saturday’s Nebraska Wesleyan University Quad Meet was the last regular season indoor meet.
The meet was also the final preparation for the Heart of America Athletic Conference meet today and Saturday.
“I felt we did pretty well, and it was a taste of good competition,” junior Regan Boyer said. “It was good practice for conference.”
The NWU meet consisted of four teams, NWU, an NCAA Division III school who won the meet, Hastings College, McPherson College and Baker.
“It was good for us to see new faces and compete against other people besides the same athletes we see in our conference,” head coach Zach Kindler said.
Junior Chelsey Ornburn won the pole vault event beating NWU’s Ashley Lovegrove, and junior Kayla Irwin came in third. Two other Baker athletes won events; freshman Cheyenne Barron won the women’s triple jump, and senior Richie Bryant won the men’s long jump with junior Trevor Gleason finishing third.
Sophomore Ashlee Miller finished second in the 200-meter dash just behind Holly Andrews from Nebraska Wesleyan. Distance runner Mikayla Medlock finished second in the 3000-meter run, and freshman Tanner Gleason finished second in the 800-meter race. Middle distance runner Katey Wegemer placed third in the 600-meter run, sophomore Jackie Koch finished third in the women’s weight throw, and sophomore Matthew James finished third in the 600-meter run.
Kindler said the week of practice leading up to the NWU meet and the meet itself was tough in order to prepare for the conference meet.
Lindenwood and MidAmerica Nazarene universities are going to be strong opponents in the conference meet, and Kindler is not sure where Baker will finish in the standings.
“The main thing is consistency between meets,” freshman Robert Woodall said. “Giving 100 percent at every meet – no matter the competition.”
The track team members train so that they will peak during the outdoor season. Because of this, the indoor season is seen as preparation for the outdoor season, with the best times and toughest competition coming in the outdoor meets.
“This has been practice pushing for top marks in outdoor,” Kindler said. “We have done well in the indoor season and some athletes are ahead of schedule.”
Nine athletes, including the women’s 4×4 team, have already qualified for nationals March 6-8 in Johnson City, Tenn.