Pioneer Classic

Track & Field Pioneer Classic
Watch Day 1
Watch Day 2
Results

OLATHE, Kan. - The Pioneers only needed to walk across the campus to showcase their abilities as MidAmerica Nazarene University hosted the two-day Pioneer Classic on their new track and field complex. The last time that MNU hosted a track meet dated back to 2008 when the Pioneers held the Homeschool Nationals Track and Field Championships. Now was the time to get back at it in the comfort of home where workouts would become competitive reality.
 
Friday brought on the possibility of storms in the area, later in the afternoon, with wind that at times was not ideal and warm weather that was great for the sprinters but tough on the distance athletes. As the crew worked tirelessly to get finished before the storms, the Pioneers brewed up a storm all their own. The field events started the march of the clouds as 13 Pioneers set personal bests.
 
Exploding off the boards in the triple jump, like hail bouncing off windows, the Pioneer women ricocheted across the runway to grab two B-standards while sweeping the podium and setting three personal bests. Olivia Young and Hayley Loewen were the B-standard NAIA National qualifiers, taking the gold and silver respectively, followed by Jaidyn Tabony with bronze. Loewen and Tabony set personal records with teammate Nala Burns owning the third personal best of the group.
 
Eriyon Stamps answered the Pioneer challenge in the triple jump as he grabbed the silver medal using a B-standard qualifying mark.
 
Over in the javelin throw, the Pioneers were spraying lightning bolts all over their sector, claiming four personal bests and four top 3 finishes. Nora Powers and Ella Margheim took positions one and three for the women as Margheim and Raylee Saunders set personal bests. For the men, it was Brody Stewart and Russell Ferguson who set personal records while taking first and third, respectively.
 
Across the field, the Pioneer high jump men were dodging flying debris sent forth by mini tornadoes created by the hammer throwers. The Pioneers, Dominic Colosimo, Cyril Davillier, and Holden Hughes, escaped the wrath of the crossbar to take the top 3 spots, in that order. Colosimo also equaled his previous best while taking the gold.
 
Finishing out the field events for the day, was the hammer throw. The Pioneers looked like twisting tornadoes as they wound up for each throw. Some may have said they were more like windstorms, but six wreaked havoc on the field to land with personal bests. Leading the Pioneer women with two bests were Margheim and Rachel Nisly, going one and two in the event. For Margheim it was two events with two personal bests and two top 3 finishes. For the men, the category 5 twister came from senior Jacob Creswell who won the event with a personal best which was only three centimeters from a school record. He cut the path that each of his fellow Pioneer men followed. Alexander Dawkins, Joshua Delgado, and Ferguson all set personal bests with Ferguson grabbing two for the day.
 
On the track, the storm kept brewing from the very first race, the hurdles. The hurdlers blew in from the south and lit the track on fire as each claimed personal bests; six in total. The Pioneer men were the first up. Lance Jones, Benn Schnelle, and Colosimo claimed the podium taking gold, silver, and bronze. Davillier and Hughes were on their tails to claim personal bests. Jones's time also set a school record as well as moving him back into the number one spot in the NAIA. Pioneer woman LaShae Smith would not be outdone as she too claimed a personal best while taking the silver medal.
 
Pioneers continued to lead the charge as Gift Orionoma and Jatavion Pegues took the gold and silver in the 100 meter dash with Kortez Washington claiming a time under 11 seconds for the first time. For the Pioneer women, Jola Felix also a claimed a personal best while taking the bronze medal.
 
Going the full oval, fighting some wind along with that, the 400 meter dash lined up next. Two Pioneer men, Fardis Hossinei and Nate Jefferson, were able to overpower the wind for personal bests, while James Farmer-Cole claimed the gold with an NAIA A-standard qualifying mark. For the Pioneer women, they were led by Nikiwe Mongwe and Lakin Essex who flew down the final stretch to claim the gold and silver. For Mongwe, she also claimed a B-standard qualifying mark. Teammates Taryn St. Clair and Josie McClung also handled the wind well to set their personal best times.
 
Switching to distance, the underclassmen set the pace for the 1500 meter run with Jacob Hendrickson and Aidan Scherman going one and two in the men's race. Josiah Robinson was the next Pioneer to finish as he claimed a personal best for the afternoon. Isabella Meili and Anna McKnight led the women with strong races to finish with the gold and bronze.
 
Closing out Friday's events, the Pioneer distance racers took on the longest race on the track, as well as the wind, in the 10,000 meter race. The heat was tough, the wind was tiring, but the Pioneers were relentless as Gavin Williams and Ken Morgan went one and two for the men and Gracie Enochs took the gold for the women.
 
Between Friday evening and Saturday morning, the weather struck and the temperatures switched. What was once warm, around 80 degrees for the high, became cool, highs in the upper 50s. The weather would favor distance athletes, but the sprinters and field event athletes were no strangers to this Kansas change.
 
Like Friday, Saturday started at the field events with pole vault, long jump, and discus throw going on simultaneously.
 
Where personal bests were tougher to come by, the Pioneers continued to rack up top 3 positions throughout the day.
 
In the high flying acrobatic twists of the pole vault, Evan Schmidt secured a gold medal with newcomer Ian Hanson grabbing the bronze and a personal best.
 
The long jumpers were dealing with a cross wind, but the Pioneers were up to the challenge. Elijah Bergin led the Pioneer men, setting a personal record and grabbing the gold, while KeJuan Williams took home the silver. Young was back in the office for the women to claim her second gold and NAIA B-standard qualifying mark of the meet. Burns took the silver while Loewen claimed the bronze with her second personal best at the meet. Smith was only 2 centimeters from Loewen to also claim a second personal record while at this meet.
 
Meanwhile, the throwers continued to wreak havoc on the competition as Nisly sent the discus flying in the women's competition on her way to a best and the gold medal. Alicia Hernandez-Mast followed her teammate to land the runner-up spot. Dawkins continued his dominance in the ring with the gold for the men as teammate Creswell grabbed his second personal best of the meet and the silver medal. With his discus throw, Delgado matched both Creswell and Ferguson to claim two personal bests to this point in the meet.
 
Field events concluded with the shot put on Saturday led by the women and closing out with the men. Hernandez-Mast took the gold for the women with Dawkins taking the honors for the men. Grabbing third, Creswell finished with three personal bests and three top 3 finishes for the meet.
 
Off to the races, the Pioneers hit the track leading off with the 400 meter hurdles. Making her debut, Essex took advantage of the opportunity to grab the silver medal with roughly 2 seconds needed to shave for an NAIA qualifying mark. Jones matched Essex in the men's division in the runner-up spot but needed half a second to qualify for the show. Following Jones, Schnelle was roaring down the track to set his personal best.
 
Though the weather conditions were not ideal for a sprint event that went around the entire track, the athletes had to take any opportunity available to qualify for the NAIA National Championships. The 4x100 team of Orionoma, Pegues, Isaiah Keezer, and Timarian Rozell were set up for that task. The Pioneers led early and fought to the bitter end. William Jewell was there to push them along as they went. In the end Jewell got the best of the Pioneer's with a school record of their own. The Pioneers were close, but still that final piece of the puzzle needed to lock in. The Pioneers took a valiant silver.
 
Pioneers continued on their quest to garner as many personal bests as they could at this meet. For Kennedy Krotzinger, that came in the form of the 5000 meter race. Krotzinger ran a strong race to grab an official 5k personal best.
 
Next on the track, the 200 meter dash took charge with winds that were not favorable. Nonetheless, the Pioneers pressed on with four top 3 performances. In the women's division, Mongwe claimed her second gold of the meet as Essex took bronze. Following, men's speedsters, Farmer-Cole and Pegues, grabbed the silver and bronze to add to their collection.
 
Switching to the 800 meter run, the final race of the meet for the Pioneers, the Pioneer women showed no mercy as they took five of the top six spots. Meili grabbed her second meet title of the Pioneer Classic with Josie McClung claiming the bronze. Thomas Knudsen was the leading force for the Pioneer men, holding back a charging competitor at the line to claim the gold. Hendrickson and Robinson fought through the crowd to set personal bests. For Robinson, this made two personal records for the meet.
 
Though the weather was not always an aid, the Pioneers took advantage of the comfort of home with one school record, two A-standard NAIA National qualifying marks, five B-standard NAIA National qualifying marks, 39 personal records, and 55 top 3 finishes. Along with that, the Pioneers were the top scoring team for both the women and men's divisions.