PITTSBURG, Kan. (March 9, 2019) - Central Missouri Track & Field wrapped up the indoor season at the NCAA DII Indoor National Championships at Robert W. Plaster Center in Pittsburg, Kan. this evening. UCM took 16 athletes to the National Meet and are returning to Warrensburg with eight All-Americans with one of those being a National Champion.
The Mules finished seventh with total 26 team points and the Jennies finished 42nd with three points.Â
HeptathlonÂ
Freshman
Trey Miller had a strong showing in the heptathlon placing sixth to reach his All-American status. After day one he was in third place with 3070 points. On day one he recorded two new personal-bests in his first came in the 60m dash, where he ran a time of 7.11 and his second personal-best came in the shot put with a toss of 35-1.25. On day two, Miller recorded a big personal best in the 1000m run of 2:39.67 to bump him from eighth place to sixth place in the heptathlon with a new personal best of 5338-points.Â
Jumps
In the long jump,
Christopher Goodwin and
Trey Miller had strong performances. Goodwin improved his place from a year ago, finishing 10th with a jump of 23-11. Miller was right behind him placing 11th at his first Indoor Nationals with a leap of 23-10.75.
In the vertical jumps,
Jesse Miller competed in the high jump, where a year ago placed fourth at the Indoor National meet but unfortunately no-heighted this year.Â
For the vaulters,
Jan Jansky and
Vincent Hobbie took the runway in the pole vault. Jansky came out strong, placing eighth after clearing 16-11.
Vincent Hobbie, the pole vault, National Champion took the crown clearing 17-7. That mark was a new personal-best and makes him second in UCM all-time.
Callie Ruffener stepped on the runway in the pole vault for the Jennies on day two. In her first trip to the National Meet, she finished tied for 12th after clearing 12-6.75.
Brad Jenkins finished ninth in the triple jump. In round one, Jenkins jump of 49-4.25 qualified him for the finals but his preliminary jump was his best jump on the day.Â
Throws
Nathan Liby competed in the weight throw on day one for the Mules. Liby became the third All-American on the day, placing fifth with a personal-best of 67-6. That mark makes him third all-time at UCM.
Ashlan Burton was the first All-American on the day for the Jennies with only three legal marks. She placed sixth, with her mark from the first round of 51-1.5.Â
For the Mules,
Nathan Cummings and
Dalton Lewallen stepped in the ring in the shot put and stepped out of the ring as All-Americans. Nathan Cumming finished fifth with a toss of 60-6.75 and
Dalton Lewallen finished seventh with a personal-best throw of 59-0.75. It's the second career All-American award for Cummings and the first for Lewallen.Â
Sprints/Hurdles
Akeemo Minott represented the Mules in the 60m dash. Minott fell short of the finals by one place, placing ninth in the preliminary round with a time of 6.83.
Chris Donald competed in two events for the Mules, the 60m hurdles and the 400m dash. In the hurdles, Donald finished ninth with a time of 8.13, just falling short of the finals. He turned that around in the 400m dash qualifying for the finals. His time of 47.12 is not only a new personal-best but is a new school record. In the finals, Donald claimed his All-American status finishing seventh with the time of 47.54.
The finale of the meet was the 4x400m relay composed of
Chris Donald, Matt Skaletty,
Tanner Skotnicki, and
Jacob Weber. The relay finished 12th running the time of 3:20.19.
Ashland was the winner on the men's side with 38 points. Adams State had 37, but the Adams State women took the crown scoring 87 points.Â
Up Next
Central Missouri will now transition into the outdoor season and will be back on the track March 21, in Wichita, Kan.
