ALLENDALE, Mich. (May 29, 2021) - Central Missouri Track and Field finished up their time at the 2021 NCAA Division II National Championship meet Saturday afternoon. After 21 events the Jennies placed 10th overall with 23.5 points. The Mules scored 22 and tied for 11th place as a team.

When all was said and done, UCM brought home 10 All-American honors. There were three in the men's pole vault and Kayla Goodwin earned two. 

Multis
• UCM has two multi-event athletes competing and both earned an All-American award. For the Jennies, Kayla Goodwin moved up three places from day one and finished in fifth place scoring a personal-best 5189 points. On day one she started the event running 14.60 in the 100m hurdles placing eighth. She was then seventh in the high jump clearing 5-3. On her final throw in the shot put, Goodwin had her best attempt, 37-10, which was fourth in the competition. She finished by running 26.23 in the 200m.
• Goodwin got day two started setting a personal-best in the long jump with a mark of 19-5.5, which won the event. In the javelin, Goodwin got off a throw of 115-7 which was just shy of her personal-best and was sixth in the competition. She closed out the heptathlon running 2:25.78 in the 800m. Goodwin's long jump moved her into a tie for fifth place all-time at UCM in the event.
• A couple hours later, Garrett Francis made it 2-for-2 on UCM multi All-American awards. He finished fifth in the decathlon scoring 7129 points. The race for second place was a tight one as places two through five were all separated by just 60 points. Francis started out day one running 11.29 in the 100m dash which was eighth. He was just shy of his personal-best in the long jump with a mark of 22-7.75 which was good for sixth. Francis then threw 39-8.5 in the shot put which was eighth and cleared 6-3.25 in the high jump for seventh. Francis finished his day running a personal-best in the 400m, 49.84, which was fourth in the event. 
• On day two, Francis set a personal-best in the 110m hurdles, the first event of the day. He ran 14.90 which was fourth in the event. Francis then finished third in both the discus throwing 122-5 and the pole vault clearing 15-1. He closed out the decathlon with a 146-7 throw in the javelin and a 4:51.00 1500m in the final event. The All-American award is the first for Francis. 

Jumps
• The first All-American award of the meet went to Chris Goodwin in the long jump on day one. Goodwin stepped up when it mattered most. On his third attempt sitting in 10th place outside of making the finals, Goodwin jumped 24-2.25, moving up to sixth earning himself three more jumps. After fouling on his first two attempts in the finals, Goodwin got off a legal jump and his best jump of the competition, 25-0.25, to finish in fourth place. The competition was tight as just one inch separated second and fourth place. The All-American award is the second for Goodwin, who also earned one in the long jump during the indoor season.
• Goodwin was one of two Mules in the long jump competition. Jesse Miller jumped 23-7.25 and placed 13th in his fifth career national meet. 
• After finishing up in the multis, Kayla Goodwin came back on day two to compete in the triple jump. Goodwin didn't waste much time. On her second attempt she jumped a personal-best 41-8.5. That mark held up as she finished in fourth place picking up her second All-American award in a matter of hours. The freshman earned four total All-American awards this year, two indoors and two outdoors.
• For the first time in Mules track and field history, they claimed three All-American awards in the same event in the same year. Vincent Hobbie, Jan Jansky and Reagan Ulrich all finished in the top-eight in the pole vault. 
• Hobbie and Ulrich tied for third place jumping 17-0.75. Jansky placed seventh clearing 16-4.75. This is the fourth consecutive national meet Hobbie has finished in the top-three and he's been an All-American at every national meet he's competed in. Ulrich is now a two-time All-American after earning one during the indoor season. This is the third career All-American award for Jansky
• The Mules had four competing in the event. Jack Hodge entered his first national meet but was unable to successfully make a bar.

Vertical Jumps
• UCM saw two compete in the women's pole vault Friday afternoon. Cassie Jennings earned her second career All-American award tying for fourth place by clearing 13-3.5, just a quarter-inch off of her lifetime best. Jennings cleared each of her first three bars on her first attempt, including 13-3.5, but was unsuccessful at PR attempts of 13-7.25.
• Madi Wulfekotter was also looking for her second career All-American award in the pole vault, but was unable to successfully clear a bar. 

Throws
• After missing out on an All-American award by one place indoors, Alisha Straws left no doubt in her first outdoor national championship meet. The senior was in the first flight of the discus and on her first throw hurled the disc 157-11. That got her into the finals. Straws saved her best for last though throwing 160-8 on her final attempt and finished fourth claiming her first career All-American award.
• Competing with Straws in the discus was Ashlan Burton. She threw 145-3 and finished in 14th place. Burton will come back tomorrow and throw the shot put.
• The Mules also had an entrant in the discus. Competing in his first national meet, Addison Snowball finished in 10th place throwing 167-5. He improved on each throw, missing out on making finals by one place. 
• Competing in her first national meet was Rachael Molloy in the hammer throw on day one. She got off one legal mark, 171-9, and placed 16th. 
• Saturday morning got started for the Jennies with Paige Vanblarcum throwing the javelin. She placed 16th throwing the spear 118-1 in her first career national championships.
• Ashlan Burton came back Saturday after throwing the discus Friday to compete in the shot put. Her third throw was her best as she unloaded at 50-6.75 inches. That mark held up for fourth place and her third career All-American award in the event.

Sprints
• Antonio Lay went into the meet looking to become the first UCM sprinter to earn an All-American award in the 100m dash. He'll have to wait another year for that opportunity. Lay finished in 14th place in the preliminary round running 10.70 and did advance to the finals.
• Laia Gonzalez was the only Jennie to compete as an individual on the track. She ran the 400m hurdles in 1:02.87 in the preliminary to place 12th which did not qualify for finals. 
• The Jennies 4x400m relay team looked to double up on their All-American award from the indoor season. Unfortunately, the Jens finished in 12th place as the quartet of Alex Foote, Laia Gonzalez, Hope Thiel and Destiney Nash ran 3:48.53. The relay team was the only event on the track for UCM on day two or three.