By Caitlin Casey– After a 15-hour bus ride through the night 14 track and field athletes that qualified for nationals finally arrived in Geneva, Ohio, at the Spire Institute. After two days of practice, the meet finally began.
Andy Dougherty was the first competitor of the day, competing in the heptathlon, which includes the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles, pole vault, high jump, long jump, shot put and the 1000-meter run. Overall he placed 5th with a total of 4,918 points.
Other individual men qualifiers included Austin Krohn in the high jump, Taylor Chapman in the mile, John Harris and Jacob Willey in the 600, and Monte Larsen in the 800. Willey ended up placing 7th in the 600-meter race with a time of 1:20.47. Monte Larsen placed first in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:52.21.
Individual women qualifiers included Caitlin Casey in the high jump, Neeia Cooperwood in the 60-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and the long jump, Breanna Mathes in the 800, and Jen Petsche in the 600. Mathes ended up 5 th overall in the 800 with a time of 2:14.10 and Petsche placed 7th in the 600 with a time of 1:34.99.
The men’s and women’s 4×800 relay teams were the athletes who really stole the show.
The women started off Thursday night in the prelims running a 9:17.56, easily qualifying for the finals. The men followed up with a time of 7:37.46, also qualifying for their final.
Then Friday night things got fun when McKenzie Reece started off the relay for the Mustangs and then handed off to Jen Petsche who kept up with one of the fastest 800 runners in the nation. On the handoff from 3rd leg Hailee Heitkamp to Breanna Mathes the Mustangs took the lead and held on until the end to become national champions with a time of 9:06.17. The men winning for the second year in a row was just icing on the cake. The men’s 4×800 relay, running a 7:33.08 to bring home the gold, was made up of Jay Welp, Taylor Chapman, John Harris, and Monte Larsen.
Overall as a team the men finished in 9th place with 26 points and the women finished 17th with 16 points. Congrats Morningside Track and Field on a great indoor season and good luck in outdoor!
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