Knights Take Indoor Track & Field Conference Titles for 3rd Consecutive Year
By Kenyon Kemp
On Friday, February 23rd, the Men’s and Women’s Track & Field teams had their Conference Meet for the Indoor Track season. While competing, they had many outstanding performances, with many athletes setting season bests in their respective events, and both teams were able to secure the conference title! A lot of athletes also placed in the Top 3 in their events and earned medals for their performances.
Men’s Team Top 3 Finishers:
- 60 Meter: Elvis Nwaneri (2nd)
- 800 Meter: Ethan Hughes (2nd)
- Mile: Dylan May (1st), Joseph Hughes (2nd)
- 3000 Meter: Dylan May (1st), Joseph Hughes (2nd), Kedryn Chandler (3rd)
- 5000 Meter: Dylan May (1st), Kedryn Chandler (2nd)
- 60m Hurdles: Koby Parry (3rd)
- 4x400m Relay: Ari James, Brad Beaver, Branden Beasley, Ethan Hughes (3rd)
- Men’s Distance Medley: Denver Norcross, Angel Cortez, Jared Smith, Carter Johnson (3rd)
- High Jump: Andre Lucas (1st)
- Pole Vault: Parker Arnold (1st), Ethan Hughes (2nd), Reed Newsome (3rd)
- Long Jump: Andre Lucas (1st)
- Shot Put: Bryton Facchino (2nd), Derek Lionberger (3rd)
- Weight Throw: Owen Smiley (1st), Derek Lionberger (2nd), Curt Davidson (3rd)
Women’s Team Top 3 Finishers:
- 400 Meter: Folole Torres (3rd)
- 800 Meter: Tessa Miller (1st)
- Mile: Savanna Chapin (3rd)
- 5000 Meter: Lilly Dalebout (3rd)
- 60m Hurdles: Riley Heward (1st), Folole Torres (2nd), Shandrey Allman (3rd)
- Shandrey Allman (60m Hurdles)
- 4x400m Relay: Savanna Chapin, Folole Torres, Addie Parker, Tessa Miller (1st)
- Women’s Distance Medley: Emmalee Hale, Kamree Castle, Lauren Fowler, McKenzie Ball (3rd)
- High Jump: Elyssa Holman (1st), Mikki Prows (2nd), Jocelyn Baker (3rd)
- Pole Vault: Jocelyn Baker (1st), Savanna Chapin (2nd)
- Long Jump: Jocelyn Baker (3rd)
- Triple Jump: Elyssa Holman (2nd)
- Shot Put: Katrina Gardner (3rd)
- Weight Throw: Ashlyn Stone-Awong (2nd), Alea Willis (3rd)
In addition, on the men’s side, Dylan May was named Track Athlete of the Meet, Andre Lucas was named both Field Athlete of the Meet and Field Rookie of the Meet, and Ari James was announced as part of the Conference All-Sportsmanship team. On the women’s side, Elyssa Holman was named both Field Athlete of the Meet and Field Rookie of the meet and Jessica West was announced as part of the All-Sportsmanship team. Coach Kyle Chandler was named as Coach of the Meet for both the Men’s and Women’s teams.
Ari James, a sprinter on the men’s team, said, “I got to be a part of the 4x400m relay team with Bradley, Ethan, and Branden. It was a lot of fun to get out on the track with those awesome boys and just run and compete. We ended up taking 3rd after our best performance all year. Winning another conference championship has been fantastic, and it felt great to win my first indoor championship since I hadn’t before competed in indoor season due to basketball. I look forward with the rest of the team to many more conference dubs starting with this outdoor season, with many more PRs and fun times ahead. Go knights!”
Lia Savage, one of the sprinters on the women’s team, said, “I felt very proud of my performances, I was able to PR 3 times in 2 events! I hit the mark I wanted for both events so I was very happy. We were expected to win so I am very happy we were able to execute the win and get another conference win under our belts. It makes me very excited for the outdoor season and next year to improve even more.”
Coaches’ Thoughts
Afterwards, the coaches provided their thoughts. Coach Justice Ricketts said that he was “proud of the efforts of each athlete and the sacrifices they made for themselves and their teammates.” Coach Jeramie Murray commented that the victories say a lot about the teams’ preparation and work ethic. He also said, “No team title is a given, but our athletes left no doubt about which team was best on Friday.”
Coach Kyle Chandler also provided insight into the athletes’ success. He highlighted two groups of athletes: those who had high expectations placed on them to succeed, and athletes who exceeded expectations for their performances. In the first group, Coach Chandler said that Dylan May, Andre Lucas, Tessa Miller, and Lia Savage were all placed in multiple events and expected to score a significant amount of points in each. Coach said that “there is pressure when one is expected to score” and they “did exceptionally well at meeting that challenge.”
Coach Chandler said also that there were many athletes in the second group who scored more points than expected and set new personal records. He said that because of this, several events earned extra points, with examples being the 3K, Pole Vault, 60m, 200m, and 5K for the men, and the 200m, 400m, Weight Throw, and 5K for the women.
Overall, the Indoor Conference meet was really exciting and successful for the Track & Field team, with a lot of people putting in strong performances. With the Outdoor Track season set to start, please keep checking in to see how your fellow knights improve!
