Track & Field at Pitt State and Concordia

On Saturday, January 25^th, the Pioneers split the squad, sending the jumpers plus one to Concordia University for the Concordia Classic. Most of the squad hit the road and headed south to compete in the NAIA/ JUCO Challenge at Pittsburg State University.

At Concordia, the Lady Pioneers put on an aerial assault as they landed three long jumpers (Reanna Green, Nala Burns, Hayley Loewen) in the top four. They followed that in the triple jump with another three in the top four as freshman Olivia Young led the Pioneers with her first collegiate meet title and a personal best. Loewen added a runner-up position with Green grabbing the fourth slot. At the same time, Ryleigh Hayes set a personal record in the triple jump to round out a good showing for the Lady Pioneer long and triple jumpers.

Though the track saw limited exposure for the Pioneers, getting some races in for additional speed work, Lakin Essex ran a strong 600 meter race to land a runner-up spot.

Meanwhile in the south, Pittsburg State, the ever-improving Pioneers logged twenty-five personal collegiate bests, coming from a wide variety of events. Three meets into the season, the throwers continued to be what senior Victoria Lotz referred to as a "work in progress". Lotz continued her onslaught in the weight throw as she set another personal and school record, three meets in a row.  She also set the meet record as she continues to lead the NAIA with a throw of 19.12 meters. Following her example, Alexandra Dickerson, Alexander Dawkins, Jacob Creswell, and Gabe Turley also set personal bests in this event. Lotz also placed fourth in the shot put with Dickerson and Jayse Sharif setting additional personal records. The throwers grabbed seven of the twenty-five personal bests at the meet.

On the track, nine sprinters (from 60 to 600 meters) grabbed personal bests with others making great steps of improvement. Sam Keita set the short sprint example as he grabbed a personal best in the 60 meter hurdles with Maikyah Stowe following suit in the 60 meter dash. Though there was some good movement in the 200 meter dash, the 400 was an explosion for the Pioneers with Hannah Edwards, Blake Poje, and Keita all claiming collegiate bests. Stepping up 200 meters to the 600 meter run, Joslyn Griffin, Zack Jones, and Mathew Banuelos also set new collegiate records.

Though the sprinters had a good meet, Coach Devan Sawyerr noted, in particular, that Daisy Solir, Poje, and Keita are making great steps for the team. Senior Solir had a great confidence booster in the 60-meter dash as she moved very close to a collegiate best early in the season. Poje continued to move the needle in the 400 after an incredible split in the 4x400 at Washburn, the previous week. His time of 48.89 seconds in the open 400 proved that his senior year is already guaranteed to be great. Keita, a freshman, is showing that he belongs in the collegiate ranks.

Moving into the mid-distance and distance ranks, from the 800 to the 3000 meter runs, all but two showed improvement for the season, but nine claimed personal bests. Every Pioneer in the 800 meter race has a seasonal best, but Josephine McClung and Ray Kosgei claimed personal records. The milers (Isabella Meili, Anna McKnight, Julia Swearengin, Grace Enochs, Kosgei, and Ken Morgan) did not disappoint either as they all claimed new collegiate records. Closing out the distance athletes' success was Riley Filmore who drove through the 3000 meter race for the Pioneers to set her new collegiate best, ready to attack in her next opportunity.

As seen above, it was a good day for the mid-distance and distance runners, but Coaches Jared Seckel and Erica Wollmering both agreed that though they were proud of all their athletes, McClung, Kosgei, and McKnight were the highlights of the day. McClung dropped 12 seconds in her 800 meter race, McKnight knocked off 16 seconds in the mile, and Kosgei set two personal bests as he broke the pesky 2 minute mark in the 800 and moved ever closer to getting under 4:20 in the mile.

Though there is still a lot of improvement to be made on the team, God gave the Pioneers a good day inside the Robert W. Plaster Center on the campus of Pittsburg State University.