[Indoor Track and Field] Indoor Track & Field NAIA/JUCO Challenge Recap
Pittsburg, Kan. – Friends University indoor track & field seniors Mikkel Tarver and Caroline Giles each won individual event championships on Saturday (Jan. 21) at the NAIA/JUCO Challenge on the campus of Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan.
Tarver finished first with a PR of 13.95m in the Men's Triple Jump, with Giles (10:43.47) capturing the Women's 3000 Meter Run championship.
Kendra Blaylock also came in as the runner-up in the Women's 600 Meter Run with a PR of 1:40.35.
In the Women's 60 Meter Hurdles, Shavonte Harris (second, 9:50) and Moriah Shaw (third, 9:59) each finished on the podium, with Brynna Halata (3:00m) producing a top-three showing in the Women's Pole Vault.
For the Falcon Men, Logan Horning recorded a third-place result by running a time of 8:46.50 in the 3000 Meter Run.
"I liked seeing the continued progress of our young squad," said Friends track & field head coach Henry Brun. "With quite a few freshmen and sophomores on the roster, every meet is helping to build the experience needed for them to be competitive at the KCAC meet in just a few short weeks. They are building confidence with every competition rep and it has been exciting to see the growth over this indoor season."
"There were a few athletes with standout performances that looked promising not only for the upcoming KCAC meet but also flirting with NAIA National Meet qualification. Our sprint group is coming into peak form, led by Kendra and her huge PR in the 600m and the Dectrick (Edward)/Blake (Balch) combo for the men. The entire hurdle crew made some great improvements and is edging their way up to the top of the KCAC performance lists. Mikkel had a monster PR day in the triple jump, missing the NAIA standard by just 10 centimeters. Abby (Green) continues to set personal bests in both throws every meet and is looking to be a very competitive freshman at the KCAC meet. Our distance squad is really developing in a great way, with several big improvements and both Logan and Caroline debuting with strong performances in the 3k."
The Falcons weren't limited to the meet in Pittsburg, Kan., as the duo of Jadon Davis (14:43.46) and Gage Carr (15:20.48) each hit the NAIA B Standard in the Men's 3000 Meter Race Walk at the Concordia Polar Dog Invite in Concordia, Neb. Davis' time also represented an overall meet record.
Both Falcon indoor squads are next in action at the Herm Wilson Invitational on Jan. 27-28 at Wichita State University.
"This team is really fun to watch compete right now," said Brun. "There is a level of fearlessness that we are starting to develop which is allowing us to take chances in our races/jumps/throws that are paying off. This upcoming weekend at Wichita State should be yet another opportunity for us to compete with grit – and there may be a couple of athletes that come home with some conference-leading and national qualifying marks."
Click HERE for complete results of the NAIA/JUCO Challenge.