Topeka, KS – Back from the holiday break, the Pioneers hit the workout scene hard to prepare themselves for the first meet of 2025, the Washburn Rust Buster. For some, this was the first meet of the indoor track season, though no one had competed in over a month. All were in for tough competition as the Pioneer track athletes consistently take on the bigger teams from the NCAA DII division as well as the NAIA, and strong Junior Colleges. Along with that competition, MNU had the privilege of racing on a banked 200 meter track, a reminder of when the NAIA routinely held their national indoor meets at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
After an incredible start to the indoor track meet season in December, the throwing crew showed no signs of letting up at Washburn.
Victoria Lotz was up to her usual humble but dominating self in the weight throw as she set another personal and school record at 18.68 meters. While doing so, she placed herself on the top of the NAIA national leaderboard, number #1. (Following this came MNU, Heart of America Conference, and NAIA National Indoor Track and Field athlete of the week awards.)Â Led by Lotz, the throwers set eleven personal records at this meet, three in the shot put (
Alexandra Dickerson, Jasye Sharif,
Alexander Dawkins), and eight in the weight throw (Lotz,
Alicia Hernandez-Mast,
Ella Margheim,
Alexander Dawkins,
Jayse Sharif,
Jacob Creswell, Gabe Turley, and
Jaxson Nation). Coach Nathan Hauser's group continues to show improvement at each meet.
Meanwhile on the track, the sprinters and distance runners did not appear to be shaken by the "strangeness" of a banked surface as many had collegiate bests. The shorter sprints, 60 meters, had the distinction of running on their own track. The MNU men of the 60 meter events, all underclassmen, had a great start, as
Sam Keita in the hurdles; and
Jatavion Pegues,
Elijah Bergin, and
Kortez Washington in the dash, each set personal bests, ready to improve throughout the season.
In the 200s and above, those athletes all ran the "hills" of the track. Unscathed, seniors
Maikyah Stowe and
Blake Poje each set personal bests in the 200. The longer sprint, 400, was owned by the underclassmen as Keita,
Mathew Banuelos, Washington,
Joslyn Griffin,
Hannah Edwards, and
Kirsten Wetterstrom all set their collegiate bests.
Moving into the mid-distance and distance races, veterans
Zack Jones and
Alex Gere led the Pioneers through four laps of determination in the 800. Gere had a great start for the season in the 800 to be within one second of her personal best while capturing third in her heat and seventh place overall. The newcomers in the 800 did a great job as
Ian Hanson took fourth in his heat while Isabella Meile and Josephine McClung took first and sixth in their heats, respectively.
In the mile, 8 laps and change, sophomore
Ray Kosgei got out to a promising indoor season with a second place finish in his heat and a top ten performance overall. The Lady Pioneers were next and were led by freshman
Anna McKnight who took charge of her heat quickly. It was not long before she was lapping people, making the race very confusing. In the last laps, a competitor snuck past her, but McKnight still had a solid second place finish. In the 3000 meter race,
Ken Morgan was the lone Pioneer. He ran a very solid, consistent race throughout to set a personal best.
Closing out the day's events, the 4x400 was a great way to finish as the Pioneer men battled for a top 3 position in the fastest heat of the event. Three of the four Pioneers (Stowe, Jones, Poje, and Banuelos) broke the 50 second mark for their splits for a very strong showing. Poje had an exceptional time as his split was 47.94 seconds. Overall, the Pioneers took third place behind two NCAA DII schools to finish within two tenths of a second from a National qualifying time. The Lady Pioneers (
Lakin Essex, Griffin, Gere, and
Janiah Nicholson) also had a good performance, grabbing fourth place overall, behind NCAA DII schools.
Overall, a good way to kick off the dust with some great performances and an inkling of even better things to come.
Â
