[Track and Field] Conference Championships, National Standards abound for Outdoor Track & ...

Hillsboro, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons managed to capture multiple conference titles along with setting national qualifying standards at the KCAC Championship meet this week (May 4-5) at Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kan.

Overall, the Falcon Women finished third (138 points) and the Men's Falcons secured a fifth-place finish (84 points).

The Falcons garnered six individual conference championships overall, led by a pair of title-winning efforts from Kendra Blaylock. The Blue Ridge, Texas native bested everyone both in the Women's 400 Meter run (56:97) and the Women's' 200 Meter run (25:06). Blaylock's effort in the 400 meter event was a PR and hit the NAIA B standard.

The Pole Vault events belonged solely to the team from Wichita, as Aaliyah Ramirez (3.25m) and Brynna Halata (3.25m) went 1-2 in the women's competition, with Brian Sweney (4.25m) taking home the top league's top prize in the men's event.

The Women's 100m Hurdles was also all Falcons behind the 1-2-3 punch of Keiana Newman (14:22), Shavonte Harris (14:46) and Irian Padulles (14:55). All three times incredibly hit the national qualifying standard, with Newman's mark earning the NAIA A standard.

Abby Green also won the KCAC title in the Women's Hammer Throw, recording a PR of 45.91 to finish on top.

The Men's 110m Hurdles featured a massive PR for Trystan Wright (14:68), who nailed the NAIA B Standard to record a solid runner-up finish.

Jaylen Knight (12:00 came in as the runner-up and hit the exact NAIA B Standard time in the Women's 100 Meters, with Halle Nagel (12:07) right behind Knight in third place.

Kourtney Warren (1:03.98) followed that up with a second-place finish of her own in the Women's 400 Meter Hurdles with a PR and NAIA B Standard time of 1:03.98.

In the relay events, the team of Kaylah Petty, Knight, Blaylock and Nagel finished as the runner-up in the Women's 4 X 100 relay, just missing the NAIA B standard with a time of 48:04.

The Men's Falcons then posted a runner-up showing in the Men's 4 X 100 event with an NAIA B standard time behind the team of Wright, Florian Farese, Mikkel Tarver and Blake Balch (41:45) in the Men's 4 X 100 relay.

The meet was then capped with the Falcons coming third in the Women's 4 X 400 Relay (Petty, Nagel, Warren & Blaylock) with a time of 4:00.37 and fourth in the Men's 4 X 400 (Balch, Wright, Cooper Clawson & Farese) at 3:24.26.

The Falcons will now compete in a Last Chance Meet next weekend (May 13) ahead of the NAIA Outdoor National Championship meet on May 24-26 at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind.

Head coach Henry Brun on the KCAC Championship Meet:

"When the team has 20 performances crack the Top 10 all-time list here at Friends University along with 17 All-KCAC event performances, five KCAC Champions, and eighht NAIA National standards you can say we had a pretty strong weekend! Our underclassmen showed up in a huge way, especially in the sprints and relays. Aaliyah (PV) and Abby (HT) winning KCAC titles as freshmen was very impressive and their future in the conference is bright. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend from our hurdles group, led by Keiana who smashed the school record and KCAC meet record. The sprints went to work on the track and asserted their dominance, led by an amazing 200m/400m KCAC title double from Kendra. The youth of the men's sprint squad struck again with them punching their ticket to the NAIA meet in the 4x100 relay.

Overall, the energy was amazing. We stayed focused in the moment and encouraged everyone throughout all the events and it speaks to the growth of our team culture over this last year. I was happy with how our seniors were able to end the season on their terms. With the majority of the team being so young, I am excited to see how we build from this going into this next fall with an incoming class of nearly 30 new athletes.

But for now, we are focused on our group of 15-17 athletes who are preparing for the NAIA National meet in a couple weeks. It will be a relatively young group traveling and it will be great for them to get the exposure at the national level."

Notable Falcon performances – Men

·        Blake Balch: 10.75 in 100m (#8 on All-Time List)

·        Florian Farese: 49.67 in 400m (#5 on All-Time List)

·        Trystan Wright: 14.68 in 110m Hurdles (#2 on All-Time List, NAIA B Standard)

·        4x100 (Wright, Farese, Tarver, Balch): 41.45 (#4 on All-Time List, NAIA B Standard)

·        Mikkel Tarver: 7.08m in Long Jump (#T-7 on All-Time List)

·        Damon Scott: 14.06m in Triple Jump (#7 on All-Time List)

Notable Falcon performances – Women

·        Jaylen Knight: 12.00 in 100m (#5 on All-Time List, NAIA B Standard)

·        Halle Nagel: 12.07 in 100m (#6 on All-Time List)

·        Kendra Blaylock: 24.97 in 200m (#6 on All-Time List)

·        Kendra Blaylock: 56.97 in 400m (#2 on All-Time List, NAIA B Standard)

·        Keiana Newman: 14.22 in 100m Hurdles (New School Record, New KCAC Meet Record, NAIA A Standard)

·        Shavonte Harris: 14.46 in 100m Hurdles (#3 on All-Time List, NAIA B Standard)

·        Irian Padulles: 14.55 in 100m Hurdles (#4 on All-Time List, NAIA B Standard)

·        Moriah Shaw: 14.83 in 100m Hurdles (#8 on All-Time List)

·        Kourtney Warren: 1:03.98 in 400m Hurdles (#3 on All-Time List, NAIA B Standard)

·        Moriah Shaw: 1:05.27 in 400m Hurdles (#8 on All-Time List)

·        4x100 (Petty, Knight, Blaylock, Nagel): 48.04 (#8 on All-Time List)

·        Aaliyah Ramirez: 3.25m in Pole Vault (#T-5 on All-Time List)

·        Brynna Halata: 3.25m in Pole Vault (#T-5 on All-Time List)

·        Abby Green: 45.91m in Hammer Throw (#4 on All-Time List)