Track athletes qualify for May’s National meet in California
Four more school records were set and several athletes qualified provisionally for the National Meet in late May.
“The track events were unbelievable,” Coach Willie Hoffman said about Chadron State’s track and field team during the Colorado State-Pueblo Invatational Meet last weekend.
The Eagle’s men and women each set two of the school’s records.
“We have a lot of kids that work really hard. They are very talented and it’s starting to come trough,” Hoffman said.
Monique Fair, sophomore of Denver, ran the 400-meter in 57.12 seconds while Jessica Horsley, senior of Basin Wyo., beat her own record in shot put by 7 feet, 4 inches with a with a provisional 187 feet, 11 inches. Horsley’s throw stands third in all of NCAA Division II.
Freshman Steven Richendifer of Sterling, Colo., set one of the men’s records clearing 15 feet, 5 inches in the pole vault.
The 400-meter team relay made up of Brandon Segelke, redshirt freshman of Sidney, Karl McFarlane, sophomore of Montego Bay, Jamaica, Phil Rivera, sophomore of Apple Valley, Calif., and Jake Gruver, senior of Cheyenne, Wyo., provisionally qualified with a time of 40.84 seconds.
The old record of 40.93 was set in 2006.
Stacee Craig, senior of Powell, Wyo., won the heptathlon at the Pueblo meet Thursday and Friday with a career-best 4,324 points.
Other highlights for the Eagle’s men included McFarlane who remained undefeated in the 110-meter high hurdles this season, Rivera was second in the 400 and Gruver placed third in the 100 and fourth in the 200.
According to the CSC sports information website, redshirt freshman Alyssa Norton, of Rushville, placed first in the shot put at 42-2 1/4 and senior Kate Jungck, senior of Hay Springs, won the javelin at 127-11.
In addition, Horsley in the shot put, sophomore Sadie Waugh in the discus, freshman Jazmyn Webster, of Cheyenne, Wyo., in the jump and senior Julia Bayer, senior of Stuttgart, Germany, in the long jump, all placed second.
Norton also was third in the discus and Ashley Fanelli, sophomore of Arvada, Colo., placed third in both the long and the high jumps.
“It feels great to place first at such a big meet,” Norton said. “It’s nice to know that I am setting up well for conference and hopefully I will be up in the top in the shot and disc.”
After an exciting weekend, Hoffman said this week would be light for the athletes as they prepare for the RMAC Outdoor Championships May 8-10.