Track and field teams compete at Heart Indoor Championships

Story by Chad Mullen, Writer

Baker University’s men’s track and field team finished third and women placed seventh in the Heart of America Athletic Conference Indoor Championship meet in Jacksonville, Illinois, last weekend.

The Wildcat men finished 62.5 points behind champion MidAmerica Nazarene University, breaking a five-year streak of the Wildcats winning the Heart Indoor Championship. The women ended 117.5 points behind the Pioneers, as MNU swept the team championships.

Tyler Randall took the individual championship for the 600-meter run, finishing in 1:22.30, and also placed fifth in the 800-meter run. Randall was one of four Wildcat men to finish in the top five of multiple events. Birdsong Warren, who placed fifth in the finals of the 600 meters, also earned third place in the high jump at 1.91 meters. Greg Flores earned top-five finishes in the 5,000-meter run and the 3,000-meter run, and Cory Peoples placed second in the weight throw as well as taking a third-place finish in the shot put.

Four events saw multiple Wildcats finish in the top five; the 600 meters, the 5,000 meters with Flores and Joe Linder, the pole vault with Matt Bush and Ben Carpenter, and the heptathlon, where Logan Lamb and Seth Ahart placed second and third, respectively.

On the women’s side, six Wildcats earned individual championship in three events. Brenda McCollum won the 3,000-meter race walk, Kendall Holloman won the pole vault, and the distance medley team of Janeane Hernandez, Erica Esch, Rosie Hollis and Ziara McDowell took home the Heart championship.

Three more events saw Wildcats in the top five, including the 4×800-meter relay team featuring Hernandez, Hollis, McDowell and Gloria Mares. Caitlin Apollo finished second to McCollum in the race walk, and Skylar Thompson finished fourth in the pole vault.

The Wildcats will close out the indoor season in the UCM Classic, which will start 3 p.m. on Friday in Warrensburg, Missouri.