Doane and Nebraska Invitational Recap

Lincoln, Neb. – The Pioneers traveled to the heart of Cornhusker territory to compete on two separate days in two different venues. The Pioneers split the squad between Nebraska University in Lincoln and Doane University in Crete with a few going to both, depending on the day.
 
The Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational at the Bob Devaney Sports Center started off the fun on Friday with the Pioneers setting thirteen personal bests and one Pioneer school record.
 
In the short sprints, the 60-meter hurdlers set the tone with Lance Jones, Sam Keita, and Dominic Colosimo all claiming a personal best. Jones and Keita earned the right to represent the Pioneers in the finals where Jones took the title and Keita landed sixth place. Along with winning the title, Jones also set a new school record and grabbed the number two spot in the NAIA and the Heart of America Conference.
 
Working our way up the distance in races, Lakin Essex bettered her indoor best in the 400-meter dash with Joslyn Griffin setting two collegiate bests, one in the 600-meter and the other in the 800-meter run. Meanwhile among the men, Thomas Knudsen also grabbed a best in the 600-meter with TJ Bessmer setting his indoor best in the 800-meter run.
 
Not to be outdone by the hurdlers who claimed three personal bests, all three of the Pioneer milers set personal bests. Isabella Meili led the charge for the women with a final kick that helped her win her heat and place her as number two in the Heart of America Conference. Anna McKnight showed considerable improvement to also set a personal record while Aidan Scherman of the Pioneer men closed the deal for a full sweep of bests in the mile.
 
Closing out the highlights of the meet, the throwers continued to show improvement with freshman Rachel Nisly and veteran Alexander Dawkins setting the weight implement to flight. Both claimed personal bests for their efforts.

CRETE, Neb. - With a split squad for weekend competition, the Pioneers still sent a strong arsenal to Doane University for the Fred Beile Classic in Crete, roughly a half hour southwest of Lincoln. With the Heart of America Conference meet only two weeks away, the Pioneers fine-tuned their skills as they set twenty-one personal bests, which included an NAIA National Championship B-standard qualifier, and claimed seven top-3 finishes.
 
An aerial attack by the Pioneer men in the weight throw led the charge with six personal bests, each Pioneer grabbing a personal record. They were led by Alexander Dawkins who won the unseeded event with a throw that landed a centimeter past the B-standard qualifying mark, giving him the opportunity to compete at the NAIA National Championships. Five of his teammates followed his lead as Jacob Creswell, Joshua Delgado, Russell Ferguson, Damarion Greenburk, and Jaxson Nations all set bests.
 
The Pioneer men's throwing core did not let up, grabbing four more personal records in the shot put. Dawkins, Delgado, and Nations had two personal bests for the meet with Brody Stewart rounding out the personal records' collection.
 
Also, taking top awards in the field events, pole vaulter Evan Schmidt won his event while Nala Burns took silver in the long jump.
 
Meanwhile on the track, sophomore Hannah Edwards showed remarkable improvement in the 60 meters, bettering her time by 0.14 seconds, which is difficult in that short distance.
 
Moving up to the 200 meter dash, the Pioneer men, Felipe Rodriguez and Kortez Washington, flew across the line to go one and two, respectively.
 
Thomas Knudsen, who had raced the day before in Lincoln, cruised in the 800 meter run to garner a third place finish.
 
Taking to the track for the longer races, the Pioneers kept the train on track with ten personal bests by the distance runners.
 
Isabella Meili, fresh off a spectacular race in the mile the day before in Lincoln, charged down the final stretch to grab a second place finish in the 1000 meter race to set her personal best. When it comes to strong finishes, Josie McClung continued to master the skill, pulling teammate Lana Smittick along for the ride as they both knocked off substantial time from their previous 1000 meter bests.
 
In the mile, four Pioneers set personal bests with a no-quit attitude across the line. Riley Filmore led the Pioneer women with Julia Swearengin and Gracie Enochs working closely together to the line. For the men, Josiah Robinson got out to a quick start and then held on to nip his old mile collegiate best.

The longest race of the day for the Pioneers belonged to the 3000 meter athletes. In this race, three Pioneers laid claim to personal bests. Having a determined race, Enochs was able to grab a personal best to make it an impressive two bests for the day. The other two personal bests came from Pioneer men Ken Morgan and Brenton King, both of whom have shown great improvement throughout the season.
 
As of note, indoor meets on tracks that are not banked and are 200 meters or less generally have conversion factors that are recognized when qualifying for various meets including conferences and the national event. With the conversion applied, the Pioneers would have set five additional personal bests. Regardless, this was a strong performance by the Pioneers who continued to hone their skills in preparation for the Heart of America Conference Championship.