By: Jenia Freewalt, sports information assistant
TERRE HAUTE, Indiana- On Saturday, Feb. 24, the Beavers hit the road for their last indoor track meet of the 2024 season! After a long bus ride to the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, the Bluffton Beavers were excited to leave it all on the track during the 2024 HCAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. With nine other teams competing on the day, there was a lot of good competition and opportunities for great placements on both the men's and women's teams.
The Beavers took home a lot of hardware and many individuals scored points for Bluffton University. The top eight placements in each event score points for their team during the championships, and many of them fought for their spot this weekend!
The field event athletes had a great performance against the HCAC competition. In the men's high jump, junior Joey Bonham (Vanlue) placed 2nd with a big jump of 1.88m! Following right behind Bonham was junior Kyle Manns (Ottoville) with a 3rd place finish, also jumping 1.88m. Senior Desmond Gist (Detroit, Mich./Trenton) took 4th in the event with a jump of 1.80m.
In the women's high jump, sophomore Paige Massie (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) placed 7th overall with a leap of 1.47 meters, followed closely by her teammate, junior Olivia Rider (Celina), who finished in 8th place with a jump of 1.47 meters.
In the men's long jump competition, Gist took 2nd, making the podium and breaking his PR with a big jump of 6.97 meters! Also for the men, Bonham placed 5th overall and broke his PR with a jump of 6.59 meters! Senior Malik Waters (Lima/Perry) finished just behind Bonham, scoring 6th with a PR jump of 6.57 meters!
Rider broke her personal record in the long jump, scoring 7th overall with a jump of 4.36 meters!
The men's triple jump athletes also had some big performances this weekend. Finishing in 2nd overall with a big jump of 13.19 and setting a new PR was junior Bonham! Waters took 5th, setting a new PR of 12.54. Sophomore Dontrayell Thomas (Madera, Cal./Edison) finished 8th with a jump of 12.22 meters.
Senior Markus Finley (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) had an outstanding performance in the shot put, finishing 3rd and setting a new PR of 14.27 meters!
In her HCAC Championship debut in the women's pole vault, freshman Amelia Adams (Celina) took home silver, scoring 2nd overall with a PR jump of 2.85 meters!
While these athletes were competing in their field events, the runners took to the track! Starting off the meet strong in the men's 5k, junior Cole Kropka (New London) placed 8th overall, scoring for his team with a PR time of 15:49. Setting a season best was junior Braeden Horn (Galion) with a time of 17:05.
In the women's 5k race, junior Basil Gates (Galion) had a stellar performance, taking 3rd place and All-HCAC Honorable Mention with a quick PR of 19:32! Gates also had an amazing performance in the 3k, setting a new PR of 11:27 and earning 5th overall.
In the men's mile, sophomore Jarrod Roudebush (Coshocton) finished his race by setting a new PR of 4:52, followed by junior Aiden Brien (Springfield/Kenton Ridge), who finished a quick race with a PR time of 5:10.
Finally, wrapping up the distance events, the men's Distance Medley Relay finished in 6th overall, scoring points for the Beavers with a time of 11:28.
"This was a really fun meet," said Coach Connor Gulick, who works primarily with the distance athletes. "It started off strong and everyone fed off of that energy. Just about everyone ran a PR or season best on the day. This weekend will give us lot of momentum as we turn out attention to outdoor."
Flying down the track and tying Bluffton University's school record was senior Desmond Gist, setting a new PR in the men's 60-meter dash with a quick time of 6.96 for 2nd place! In addition, Gist won the Men's 60-meter Hurdles with a time of 8.20 seconds!
Also scoring in the Men's 60-meter Hurdles was junior Ja'Ce Nutt (Miamisburg/Valley View), finishing in 8th place with a time of 9.05 after setting a new PR during prelims with a time of 8.98.
Finishing in 4th place in the 400-meter race was junior Russell Lough (Wintersville/Indian Creek) with a time of 52:02!
In the women's 400 meters, junior Kailea Kerr (Manchester, Ind.) placed 6th overall with a quick time of 1:06.40!
In the men's 4x200 meter Relay, the team comprised of Gist, Lough, senior Blayden McCoy (Fresno/Ridgewood), and senior Simon Shawk (Galion) finished in 2nd place overall with a time of 1:32.93! The same athletes also ran the 4x400 Relay, and also finished 2nd in that event with a time of 3:28.49!
Taking 5th place overall in the women's 4x200 relay was a team comprised of athletes junior Kinsey Myers (Stryker), sophomore Paige Massie (Alvada/Arcadia), Adams, and Kerr, finishing the relay with a collective time of 1:56.75. The same women competed later in the 4x400, finishing 4th overall with a quick time of 4:30.60.
Head Coach Ben Markison said that the standout performances on the men's team were Waters, Bonham and Gist. On the women's team, the standout competitor for Coach Markison was Amelia Adams. "They came to compete and it showed with their performances. Both Malik and Joey PR'd massively in the long jump and triple jump to get into the top eight," explained Markison, reflecting on the day. "Des had a long, but very successful day with multiple PRs and podium finishes." Amelia Adams held her own, placing very well in her event (2nd place) as a freshman with not a lot of collegiate pole-vaulting experience.
"As I said to the team, we showed up," continued Coach Markison, reflecting on the Beavers as a whole. "We came to compete in each and every event and the results speak for themselves. We exceeded expectations in almost every event, including having three jumpers in the top 8 in long jump, triple jump and high jump. The men finished 3rd with 97 points, which is the most ever (surpassing the previous amount of 74 points which was set last year). On the women's side, we were 1.5 points outside of 5th as a team which is crazy considering we had 10 athletes compete which shows the talent of that group."
After wrapping up a stellar day of competition, the Beavers returned to Bluffton to rest and begin training for the upcoming outdoor season! Bluffton will kick off its 2024 Outdoor Track and Field campaign on Saturday, March 23 at Muskingum.
-BEAVERS-