Heart Championships Recap

Heart of America Indoor Track and Field Conference Championship – Northwest Missouri State University
 
Maryville, Mo. – For institutions of higher education across the nation, conference championships, as well as Nationals, are the times to shine. Conference championships are often a last chance to meet the requirements for National entry, but they are also time to see how your institution compares to your rivals with team scoring on the line, a rarity in track and field. The Heart of America Conference Championship was to boast several nationally ranked teams, according to USTFCCA, throughout the season, proving strong competition would be found. For MidAmerica Nazarene University, it had several top ten event national rankings for the women and top 25 for the men. Regardless, how would this mesh up against the strong teams of the Heart of America Conference?
 
For MNU, it would be an extra challenge as some of its top NAIA nationally noted athletes were unavailable for competition. However, for those competing, they were up for that challenge. As Head Coach Yates said, "You guys came together as a unit and put it down."
 
Leading the charge, Regional Assistant Coach of the Year, Nathan Houser, had his throwers ready for action. His women throwers have been ranked in the top 7 in the NAIA, in both the shot put and weight throw. They were led by Conference and Regional Field Event Athlete of the Year, Victoria Lotz, who also leads the nation in the weight throw and is currently number 6 on the all-time NAIA list. Lotz did not disappoint, as she took the title in both the shot put and weight throw; earning the Field Event Athlete of the Meet, a personal best, a school record, and a conference meet record. Adding to the scorers' table, Alexandra Dickerson and Gabriella Margheim took points from the competition in the shot put, grabbing third and seventh place, respectively, as they set personal records. Like Lotz, Dickerson also scored a double as she placed seventh in the weight throw. Meanwhile, the men were getting the MNU team scoring going as Jacob Creswell and Alexander Dawkins launched the weight to third and seventh place finishes, respectively. Creswell also set a personal best. In all, the women's throwers scored 30 points for the team with the men grabbing eight in only two events, shot put and weight throw.
 
Continuing the battle in the field events, the third and seventh ranked NAIA women's long and triple jumpers, respectively, exploded off the boards. Newcomer Olivia Young led the triple jumpers with Hayley Loewen and Reanna Green all claiming points for the team. Three triple jumpers in the top seven showed why they were ranked in the top 10 of the NAIA. The long jumpers added to the team scores as Green, silver medalist, and Nala Burns, sixth place, took flight. For Green, it was her top distance of the season, earning her an A standard for Nationals. Overall, the women's jumpers added 22 additional points to the team scoring, giving the women's field events a total of 52 for the meet.
 
Turning our attention to the track, the Pioneer sprinters started the meet on Friday by qualifying two athletes for the men's Saturday finals in the 60 meter dash and 60 meter hurdles, Gift Iredia and Sam Keita, respectively. Both Iredia and Keita went on to make the podium in the finals on Saturday as they earned bronze medalist honors while setting personal bests. Keita's also earned a B standard qualifying mark for the Nationals' meet.   Junior Burns also ran well in the 60 meter dash with a seasonal best time, barely missing the cutoff for the finals. 
 
The rest of the Friday events belonged to the mid and long distance runners. Scoring points for both the women and men, the 4x800 relay teams were strongly in the mix. The women's team of Isabella Meili, Anna McKnight, Julia Swearengin, and Casandra Reyes had a fight to the end as a photo-finish revealed the Pioneers got nipped at the line to take the 6th spot. The men also had a tight race with four teams battling for the final place on the podium. The Pioneers team of Ray Kosgei, Bret Bourquin, TJ Bessmer, and Mathew Banuelos split the stampede to the line, grabbing fourth place overall, barely missing the podium. Racking up additional points for the day were the participants of the 600 meter. Both Alex Gere and Allisa Ward set personal bests in the event while Gere and Lakin Essex grabbed points for the team. Zack Jones, who had a great Conference meet, rounded out the scoring for the day with a personal best and a sixth place finish.
 
Saturday on the track, the Pioneers kept the fight going with the 1000 meter athletes leading the day at the races. Women's Pioneer McKnight set the scoring tone with an eighth place finish only to be followed by Kosgei grabbing fifth in the men's division, adding to the point totals for the men. As mentioned previously, Keita in the 60 meter hurdles and Iredia in the 60 meter dash, added to the excitement with third place finishes. Then the 400 meter dash artists hit the track, a top group consistently for MNU throughout the last few years. Once again, they were up for the task at hand with Essex, Janiah Nicholson, and Joslyn Griffin all scoring points. Essex, bronze medalist, led the group as Nicholson took fifth and Griffin eighth. Each of them set personal bests. It was tough to follow that act for the men, but seniors Blake Poje and Maikyah Stowe, and Keita were undaunted with two scoring, Poje and Keita, and the two seniors setting personal records. Poje grabbed the silver medal with Keita taking seventh. The 800 meter runners of Gere and Jones kept the party going with Gere grabbing a fifth place finish for the women and Jones taking home the bronze for the men. Both set personal bests, Gere by 4 seconds while Jones barely missed the B standard National qualifying mark. Sprinters Nicholson, in the women's 200 meter dash, and Stowe, in the men's 200, closed out the scoring in the individual events with seventh place finishes.
 
However, more scoring would occur as the Distance Medley (DMR) and 4x400 meter relays showed their strengths. The women's DMR team comprised of McKnight, Ward, Reyes, and Swearengin, fought the good fight to earn the runner-up spot on the podium, silver medalists. Likewise, the men's team of Bourquin, Banuelos, Bessmer, and Kosgei would not be outdone by their female compatriots as they too laid hold of glistening silver. Taking their cue from the DMR, the 4x400 relays, already National qualifiers, were desirous of the podium. The women, Griffin, Nicholson, Gere, and Essex, were head strong and fired up. They ran their fastest combined time of the season to grab the silver medal. The men, Keita, Banuelos, Poje, and Jones, were up against strong teams but were considered the favorite. They lived up to expectations as they brought home the conference 4x4 title.
 
When the scores were tallied, the women of MNU finished a close fourth place while claiming two golds, three silvers, two bronzes for a total of thirteen All-Conference medals when considering relay participants. They also had grabbed sixteen personal or seasonal bests, including relay times.
 
The men were a comfortable sixth place, not too close to fifth nor seventh place, with all the scores compiled. They grabbed one gold, two silvers, four bronzes, and thirteen All-Conference medals, with relays. They also had eight personal bests.