The first meet of the indoor track season was an opportunity for the athletes to become acquainted to competition before they were met with some of the best athletes they will face this season in the second meet at the Iowa State Invitational.
“(The Graceland Invitational) was an early season meet,” head coach Rob Mallinder said. “It gives our athletes a chance to get the cob webs out.”
Also accomplished during the meet was the qualifying of three Baker University athletes for the national meet, which will take place March 8-10 in Johnson City, Tenn. Senior Brent Randle took first place in the triple jump and qualified with a jump of 14.47 meters. Randle also qualified for the national meet in the high jump by jumping 6.94 meters, which earned him first place in the meet.
Freshman Kome Okiomah earned a flight to Tennessee in March for his first-place effort in the 55-meter dash with a time of 6.49 seconds to edge out junior transfer Richie Bryant. Bryant ran a time of 6.57 and also qualified for the national meet.
Other top-place performances included ones by freshman Ashlee Miller, who took first place in the 55-meter dash; sophomore Chelsey Ornburn, who earned first place in the pole vault; and freshman Kelsey Heckathorne, who took second in the 600-yard run.
The athletes were given their first chance of the season to see some of their conference competitors. Mallinder said the opening meet served its purpose overall.
“Across the board, I was very satisfied with the opening meet,” Mallinder said.
The track team traveled Friday to the Iowa State facility to compete against steep competition ranging from Division I level to junior colleges.
Mallinder said it was a great opportunity for the team.
“The reason we went to Iowa State is because it is a fine facility, and it allowed us to compete against top-quality competition,” he said.
Junior Zach Atzeni said he made an effort to observe the tendencies of the Division I athletes.
“I definitely noticed that they had a lot more focus and attention to detail,” he said. “A lot about track deals with technique, not just ability.”
Due to inclement weather and ice on the ground, the team was not allowed to practice normally outside three of the five days leading up to the meet. The indoor track at Baker is shorter than the track the athletes competed on at ISU, and the jumpers had no sand to practice with.
“I know everyone would have felt a little bit better about the meet if they could have stretched their legs before the meet, instead of being cooped up,” sophomore Katey Wegemer said.
Randle led the way again for the Wildcats, earning first place in the triple jump with a distance of 14.97 meters.
Mallinder said he wanted to see the new athletes compete on a competitive stage and said for the most part everyone did well.
“There is always going to be a discrepancy between good and bad. It’s just the nature of the beast when you take 40 athletes to a meet,” he said. “But I think we had a good showing by the new athletes.
For more results, go to www.iastate.edu.
The Baker University men’s and women’s indoor track teams will compete Saturday at Highland Community College in the Highland Quadrandgualar in Highland, Kan.