[Track & Field] Women Fourth, Men Sixth at Heart Indoor Conference Championships
Crete, Neb. – The Mount Mercy Track and Field Teams competed at the Heart of America Indoor Conference Championships Friday and Saturday. Amongst steep competition, the women finished in fourth place and men in sixth of 11 teams. Both team finishes were improved from last year's performances. Individually, many Mustangs finished within the top five in several events. Kathryn Vander Poel (SR/Bakersfield, Calif.) snagged an individual title in the 600 Meters, while Vanessa Cortes (JR/Bakersfield, Calif.) walked away an individual conference champion in the 5000 Meters with a personal-best time of 18:44.46.
Qualifying for the NAIA Indoor National Track and Field Championship was Kathryn Vander Poel meeting the NAIA "B" Qualifying Standard in the 600 Meters finishing in first place with a personal-best time of 1:38.32. Rachel Gadient (JR/Anamosa, Iowa) also qualified meeting the NAIA "A" Qualifying Standard winning the Pentathlon – High Jump with a personal-best 1.65m. Gadient also improved her previous NAIA "B" Qualifying Standard performance in the Pentathlon after finishing in second with a personal-best 3241 points.
Also for the women, Vander Poel and Andrea Ertz (JR/Central City, Iowa) finished in second (2:21.55) and seventh place (2:31.37) respectively in the 800 Meters. Ertz also collected a third-place finish in the 1000 Meters with a time of 3:10.30. In the Mile, McKenna Johnson (SO/Asbury, Iowa) finished seventh (5:34.91). Three Mustangs finished in the top ten in the 3000 Meters, including Cortes in second (10:54.18), Johnson in fourth with a personal-best 11:02.78, and Alexa Zamora (SR/Apple Valley, Calif.) in seventh (11:15.91). In addition to Cortes' first place finish in the 5000 Meters, Emily Erickson (FR/West Des Moines, Iowa) finished in seventh with a personal-best time of 19:55.67. The 4x400 Relay Team of Sophie Feahn (FR/Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Brie Fuller (FR/Fairfax, Iowa), McKenzie Mellecker (SR/Coralville, Iowa), and Angela Willoughby (FR/Altoona, Iowa) finished in eighth (4:35.52). The 4x800 Relay Team of Vander Poel, Mady Roth (JR/Bakersfield, Calif.), Johnson, and Ertz collected a runner-up finish with a time of 9:48.17. Also finishing runner-up (13:21.19) was the Distance Medley Relay Team of Vander Poel, Kelsi Huhndorf (FR/Marion, Iowa), Roth, and Ertz. In the High Jump and Long Jump, Gadient placed sixth in both with marks of 1.52m and 5.25m respectively. Hanna Lueck was the top finisher in the Shot Put for the Mustangs finishing ninth (11.39m).
On the men's side, Michael Marshall (SR/Center Point, Iowa) and Aaron Golding (JR/Rock Island, Ill.) finished in eighth (2:42.96) and 10th place (2:44.92) in the 1000 Meters respectively. In the Mile, James Lindstrom (SR/Apple Valley, Calif.) finished in second place (4:26.12) and teammate, Cameron Steffens (SO/Cedar Rapids, Iowa), in 10th (4:41.78). Lindstrom also finished fifth (9:09.09) in the 3000 Meters and third (15:39.83) in the 5000 Meters. Colton Forster (SR/Marion, Iowa) competed in both events as well finishing the 3000 Meters in seventh (9:17.56) and the 5000 Meters in seventh (16:09.86). Finishing runner-up in the 3000 Race Walk was Jon Andersen (SR/Cedar Rapids, Iowa) with a time of 14:53.25. The 4x400 Relay Team of Connor Christophersen (JR/Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Souleymane Diallo (SR/Washington, D.C.), Hunter Filloon (SO/Toledo, Iowa), and August Stamp (SR/Colona, Ill.) finished in seventh (3:35.70). The 4x800 Relay Team of Marshall, Josh Long (SR/Belle Plaine, Iowa), Golding, and Jacob Blackmon (JR/Bakersfield, Calif.) landed fifth with a time of 8:16.86. The Distance Medley Relay Team of Marshall, Long, Blackmon, and Golding placed sixth (11:11.44). Luke Nickelson (JR/Nipomo, Calif) represented the Mount Mercy men in field events taking home sixth (1.89m) in the High Jump, fifth (6.76m) in the Long Jump, and seventh (13.47m) in the Triple Jump, hitting personal-best marks in each.
Up next, the Mustangs will travel to Waverly, Iowa next Saturday, February 16 to compete in the Wartburg Open.