Track dominates
The University of Indianapolis men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at Purdue University in the Boilermaker Invitational on Feb. 19.
The meet featured a series of NCAA provisional qualifying marks and times.
For the women, sophomore Haley Miller won the 400-meter dash in 57.93, an NCAA provisional qualifying time, and sophomore Kenya Owens finished in second with 58.18.
Junior Kierra Allen won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.89.
For the men, senior Matt Royer once again increased his NCAA provisional qualifying mark by throwing 20.10 meters in the weight throw. He made another provisional qualifying mark in the shot put with 16.07 meters.
The Greyhounds took first and second in the 400-meter dash with sophomore Robert Gardner and junior Jerel Flournoy with times of 48.32 and 48.88 seconds, respectively.
The track and field teams competed in the DePauw University Invitational on Feb. 12. Both the men’s and women’s teams won the meet.
Royer once again dominated in the weight throw by taking the event with a throw of 19.55 meters. UIndy also took second and third place in the weight throw with sophomore Marcus Montgomery and senior Nikko Peebles, respectively.
According to Peebles, outstanding teamwork was demonstrated at the meet.
“Matt always puts in 100 percent work,” Peebles said. “He is a great guy with a lot of perseverance, motivation and has a great work ethic.”
According to Peebles, Royer gets the job done and does it well.
“As a UIndy team we always check up on each other, as well as rooting each other on,” Peebles said.
The women’s side also saw first place finishes with senior Bisi Sanuth in the 200-meter run with a time of 26.50 and freshman Sutton Knapp in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 11.19:56.
For the women, the Greyhounds took the top four places in the long jump. Sophomore Valorie Wagner took first with 5.29 meters, senior Bethany Schroeder took second with 5.09 meters, junior Rachel Robertson placed third with 4.96 meters and freshman Jillian Reisinger rounded out the top places with 4.96 meters also.
The Greyhounds traveled to Bloomington, Ind. on Feb. 11 to compete at the Hoosier Hills Open at Indiana University.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay team placed first with a time of 3:13:92, provisionally qualifying them for nationals and setting a new school record. The runners included senior Nick Brattain, Flournoy, Gardner and sophomore Jermel Kindred. The time is also the third fastest in NCAA Division II.
Individually, Brattain took first place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.72, and Kindred took second with a time of 49.89. Gardner took second place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22:05.
“Players were well prepared for this meet,” said head coach Scott Fangman. “They didn’t get too excited, but we still need to practice and polish a few things up.”
Sophomore sprinter Angelique McNeal finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.11, an NCAA provisional mark. McNeal also competed in the 60-meter dash.
“McNeal dominated a personal best with a time of 7.84 [in the 60-meter dash],” Fangman said.
The women’s 4×400-meter relay team, the current UIndy record holder, took second place at the meet with a time of 3:53.24.
The team consisted of Allen, junior Delta Martin, McNeal and Miller.
According to Fangman, this heat has a great chance of qualifying for nationals.
Individually, Miller set another school record by finishing second in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:16.56.
“The team met quite a few of their goals, but they are working vigorously to improve,” Fangman said.
Fangman said that prior to conference, everything feeds off of setting the best marks.
The Greyhounds will continue to practice until the upcoming GLVC Indoor Championships to be held Feb. 25-26 in Somers, Wis.
