CMU Open Recap

Fayette, MO – The season opener for outdoor track came in with the cold and the wind. Though it was not the "gales of November" coming early as Mr. Lightfoot sang, the wind did play apart in the meet. On the track, at times, it was tough racing down the backstretch, but the athletes did not let that get to them. For the throwing events which were more exposed, the cold made it hard holding the implements, let alone adjusting for the wind. Regardless, the Pioneers came to compete and that is what they did.

For the throws, the weather and the start of a new season had an impact on the distances, but Junior Jacob Creswell did not let that hamper him as he had his best throw in the shot put while at MNU. The Lady Pioneers responded well too, as three finished in the top eight of the event. Alexandra Dickerson led the charge at fifth with Ella Margheim and Alicia Hernandez-Mast not far behind, taking seventh and eighth, respectively. Over in the javelin, Kaleb Barbee and Brody Stewart got back into competition with top ten finishes. Barbee took fifth with Stewart two steps back at seventh. In the discus, which can either be aided by a headwind or destroyed with a tailwind, Alexander Dawkins set the implement spinning and walked away with an eighth place finish.

The lone jumper of the day for the Pioneers was sophomore Ryleigh Hayes. Hayes exploded off the board in the triple jump from her first attempt to set a personal best. She followed that up with another strong showing to increase her personal record, breaking through the ten meter barrier for the first time and taking eighth place.

Meanwhile, on the track, the 4x800 women's team of Isabella Meili, Riley Filmore, Josephine McClung, and Casandra Reyes started the running events off with a second place finish. Evangel led the race throughout as MNU and Culver-Stockton battled for second with Reyes making a strong statement in the final leg to quell any chance for the opponent.

The Pioneers followed that up with a strong showing in the 1500 meter run. For the women, Anna McKnight, Julia Swearengin, and Kennedy Krotzinger posted good times in their debuts. McKnight grabbed the second place slot from the beginning of the race while Swearengin used her signature sprint to move past opponents and finish directly behind McKnight at third. For the men, Ray Kosgei led the race from beginning to end with little challenge. Also doing well and setting a personal best was Tyler Swearengin who got out fast, slipped back, but then regained his fight and finished strongly.

Shifting gears to the sprints, the Pioneers placed four athletes in the top ten of the 400 meter dash, two in the women's and two in the men's. Lakin Essex and Hannah Edwards started the Pioneers off grabbing first and ninth, respectively. Essex pulled away from the competition in the final one hundred to convincingly take the gold. In a very tight 400 for the men, Maikyah Stowe took charge of the fifth heat which gave him the third place overall. Elijah Bergin, in the same heat, grabbed third place in the heat to take seventh overall.

In the 100 meter dash, Kortez Washington debuted with a strong race to give him second in his heat.

After spotting the lead runner from William Woods a sizeable lead in the 800 meter run, Josephine McClung clawed her way back into contention with only 50 meters to go. That was all McClung needed to make her final push and overtake William Woods at the line. This was a personal record for McClung who also grabbed her first collegiate win which she accomplished in her first collegiate outdoor track meet.
 
Setting her collegiate personal best in the 400 hurdles, Kirsten Wetterstrom made her collegiate debut in the 400 hurdles, a race that she had not run since her middle school years. She had a strong performance, paving the way for more to come.

Destiny Lassiter and Hannah Edwards started off the 200 meter dash with a one-two punch in the first heat. Lassiter got away from the crowd quickly with Edwards cruising in behind her for a comfortable second place finish. In the fifth heat, veterans Daizy Ntowe, coming off an injury, battled with teammate Essex as they finished fourth and third in the heat. Overall MNU placed three in the top six with Essex, Ntowe, and Lassiter finishing in third, fifth, and sixth, respectively.
 
The MNU men also showed off their skills in the 200, as Washington and Gift Iredia both took their heats with Bergin grabbing third in his. All three set their collegiate bests with Iredia taking second overall.
 
Riley Filmore and Gracie Enochs battled the wind in the 3000 meter run and still set personal bests. Filmore made a charge for the top spot late in the race but had to settle for second with Enochs grabbing fourth place in the race.
 
Patrick Jacobs and Ken Morgan followed the Lady Pioneers as they hit the track for the 3000. Like their counterparts, both Jacobs and Morgan set personal bests as they worked together throughout the race. Jacobs hit it hard in the final 300 meters to pull away from Morgan, though Morgan never gave in. They finished in the top ten overall.
 
As the men of MNU continued to test their strength in a variety of events, 100 and 200 meter experts of Iredia and Washington, joined the seasoned 400 meter runners of Bergin and Stowe to put together another strong performance by the 4x400 team. Bergin set the pace in the first leg with the opponents doing their best to hang with the Pioneers. After the second leg run by Stowe, the Pioneers had a five second lead. Iredia and Washington kept it going strong as the Pioneers captured the 4x400 gold.

With the first meet often being a testing ground to see where athletes are in a competitive environment, the Pioneers tested well, putting up a good fight against the competition and the weather.