Eagles soar for first

CSC Track and Field team continues success with six first places and prepare for first home track meet

Chadron’s Track and Field team had another successful meet with six wins Saturday, at the Dave Little Alumni Mile Open at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. 

Along with placing first, many freshmen and sophomores performed well against their competition.

“When the bulk of your team is really young, then you expect the majority of your results to come from that area,” Head Track and Field Coach Riley Northrup said, “We feel really good about the recruiting that we’ve done in the last few years, and it’s not really surprising that our young, new people are doing really well.”

Morgan Fawver, sophomore of McCook, tied for first with Dickinson State’s Keith Vanderlaan, sophomore of Miles City, Montana, in the 60-meter dash, timed for 6.92 seconds. Fawver jumped 22 feet, 11 inches, placing him second in the long jump.  

Naishaun Jernigan, sophomore of Springfield, Massachusetts, won first place in the long jump, leaping for 23 feet, 2.25 inches. Jernigan placed fourth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.23 seconds.  

Shane Collins, sophomore of Bison, South Dakota, threw 50 feet, 8 inches in the shot put, placing him first. Collins took seventh in the weight throw with a mark of 49 feet, 11 inches. 

Joss Linse, junior of Plattsmouth, jumped 45 feet, 11.25 inches and placed first in the triple jump. Right behind Linse, Derrick Nwagwu, sophomore of Aurora, Colorado, took second in the triple jump, jumping 45 feet, 6.25 inches. 

Joe Dumsa, junior of Sandy, Utah, took first in the high jump, clearing the bar at 6 feet, 4.25 inches. 

Harley Rhoades, junior of Douglas, Wyoming, finished the 400 meters in 51.82 seconds, placing second. Rhoades took fifth in the 200 meters race with a run of 23.68 seconds. Greg Logsdon, freshman of Torrington, Wyoming finished the 400 meters less than a second behind Rhoades, taking third with a time of 52.32 seconds. 

Pete Brown, sophomore of Oxford, took fourth in two events with a nine second run in the 60-meter hurdles and clearing 13 feet, 1.5 inches in the pole vault. 

Cale Schafer, freshman of LaSalle, Colorado, finished the 3000 meters third, running 9:22.38.

“Chadron State has been historically known for the jump events,” Northrup said, “We’re just kind of continuing that tradition of putting out really good athletes in the jumps and the throws. They’re all really young, so I feel like it’s just going to continue to get stronger.”

For the women’s events, Jourdaine Cerenil, freshman of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, and Destiny Pelton, freshman of Fort Morgan, Colorado, tied for first place in the high jump, both clearing 5 feet, 3.25 inches. 

Cerenil took third in the triple jump, leaping 33 feet, 5.75 inches. Being only 2.75 inches behind, Austin Alexanders, freshman of Newell, South Dakota, jumped 33 feet, 3 inches took fourth in the triple jump. 

Miranda Gilkey, junior of Lusk, Wyoming, finished second and third in two of her jumping events. With a mark of 34 feet, 4.75 inches, Gilkey took second in the triple jump. Gilkey cleared the bar at 5 feet, 1 inch, taking third in the high jump. 

The Eagles will host their next track meet, CSC Open, scheduled for Saturday in Nelson Physical Activity Center. 

“Number one, anytime that you have a home meet, I look forward to the athletes being able to sleep in their own bed the night before a meet,” Northrup said, “Also, not having to sit on a bus for however many hours it takes to get to the event. Both of those things play a huge factor in how good you feel the next day at your competition.”