Horizon League Track & Field Championships - Day 1 Results
VALPARAISO, Ind. – A perfect spring day in northwest Indiana saw two records fall on a light opening day at the Horizon League Outdoor Track and Field Championships from Warren G. Hoger Track on the campus of Valparaiso University.
After one day of competition, Youngstown State leads the competition on the men’s side, while Milwaukee sits atop the women’s standings.
While the action on the track was limited to the 10,000 meters, decathlon and heptathlon, records were set in the women’s pole vault and women’s shot put.
In the pole vault, Milwaukee sophomore Karlie Place cleared the bar at 3.97 meters, setting a new record by over a tenth of a meter. The new record snapped a seven-year old League record at 3.85. Place narrowly missed pushing the record past 4.0 meters, failing to clear an attempt at 4.07, which would have set a new personal best. The top six finishers in the pole vault eclipsed last year’s winning height of 3.50 meters.
At Eastgate Field, Jayne Corbett laid down a new mark in the shot put, tossing 15.29 meters. Corbett’s heave was over a meter better than the competition and improved the League record by .78 meters.
In the field events, Valparaiso claimed the top spot on the podium in both the men’s pole vault and men’s javelin. Sophomore Alexander Watson claimed first in the pole vault with a mark of 4.56 meters, clearing the bar on his first attempt. Youngstown State senior Dylan Latone matched the height, but cleared on his third attempt and finished second.
Elijah Owen picked up Valpo’s second win, this one in the javelin. Owen’s second toss of 56.89 meters proved to be the winner, as it stood up over the next four rounds of competition.
Youngstown State's Ryan Booth was the champion in the men's shot put, claiming the title with a toss of 17.54 meters.
Oakland collected its first win of the championship in the women’s javelin, as Meghan Daly claimed victory on her final throw. Already in the top spot with a toss of 35.93 meters, Daly bettered it by over a meter, landing at 37.36 meters to clinch the win.
The Golden Grizzlies would close the evening with a sweep of the 10,000 meters. Bryce Stroede was among the lead all 25 laps, pulling away over the latter half to finish 30:19.70. On the women’s side, Sammy Mondry pulled a similar strategy, easily winning in 37:33.64.
Day two will continue at 9 a.m. CT tomorrow. Among the events to be contested will be the decathlon, heptathlon, long jump, javelin, 800 meters, discus, 110 meter hurdles, 100 meter hurdles, 400 meter dash, 100 meter dash, 400 meter hurdles and steeplechase.
