By: Jenia Freewalt, sports information assistant
NORTH MANCHESTER, Indiana- This weekend, the Beavers traveled back to Manchester for the 2024 HCAC Outdoor Championships! The two-day event gave the Beavers a chance to compete, feeling ready to go after peaking in their training leading up to the event. Each one of the Beavers fought hard, and overall had a lot of success.
"This was a great weekend," said Distance Coach Connor Gulick. "Anytime you can walk out of a weekend with four school records and multiple top 50 performances in the nation it's a good weekend."
On day one of the conference competition, two school records were broken by two stellar athletes. In the men's steeplechase competition, junior Cole Kropka (New London) beat a school record formerly held by his coach, Connor Gulick! Kropka crossed the line with a quick time of 9:46.20!
"While it was bittersweet to lose my record along the way, no one deserved to get that record more than Cole," said Coach Gulick proudly.
Breaking the school record in the men's long lump with an amazing jump of 7.18 meters was senior Desmond Gist (Detroit, Mich./Trenton)! Not only did Gist place first in this event, but the performance also put him 15th in the nation!
Also placing well in the long jump were junior Joey Bonham (Vanlue), finishing in 6th with a mark of 6.45 meters, and senior Malik Waters (Lima/Perry) finishing just behind Bonham in 7th with a mark of 6.44!
Freshman Grant Beasley (Versailles) found success in the steeplechase, earning a season best with a time of 10:54.
In the women's hammer, senior Amanda Scott (Millbury/Lake) performed well, placing 8th overall with a mark of 37.96 meters.
Stud freshman Amelia Adams (Celina) made the podium for the second time this year, placing 3rd overall in the women's pole vault and finishing with a mark of 2.76 meters which earned her Honorable Mention in the HCAC!
In the women's 10k race, junior Basil Gates (Galion) had a fantastic race, debuting the event with a time of 41:08 and finishing in 5th overall!
Day two of the HCAC Championships saw even more impressive performances and hardware being brought back to the Dam!
Gist had a particularly successful day. He placed 1st in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.63! In addition, Gist placed 2nd in both the 100 meters with a time of 10.64, as well as the high jump with a mark of 1.87 meters! Gist was named 1st Team All-HCAC, and his performance in the 100 meter dash broke another school record! Gist earned the title of HCAC Jumps Athlete of the Year with his performances in both the high jump and long jump!
Snagging a spot in 8th place in the high jump was junior Kyle Manns (Ottoville), finishing with a mark of 1.76 meters!
Junior Ja'Ce Nutt (Miamisburg/Valley View) placed 8th in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 16.75
In the women's high jump contest, sophomore Olivia Rider (Celina) placed 6th with a mark of 1.45 meters.
Earning the title 1st Team All-HCAC was junior Russell Lough (Wintersville/Indian Creek)! Lough had a stellar performance in the men's 400 meter race, coming across the line with a school-record time of 48.51! Along with winning the event, it placed him 38th in the nation!
Placing 2nd in the javelin for the second straight year was sophomore Coen North (Denver/North) with a throw of 49.34 meters!
In the men's triple jump, sophomore Dontrayell Thomas (Madera, Cal./Edison) took 4th place overall with a mark of 12.82 meters! Placing 7th was senior Waters with a mark of 12.03 meters
Placing 4th in the men's 400 with a time of 49.81 was senior Simon Shawk (Galion)!
Kropka placed 8th in the men's 5000 meters with a time of 15:59.11.
In the women's 5000 meter race, Gates placed 6th overall with a stellar time of 20:25. Racing a season best in the 5k was senior Jenia Freewalt (Delphos/St. John's), finishing up her collegiate racing career with a season best time of 21:26 coming off a 10k race the night before!
Junior Kailea Kerr (Manchester, Ind.) pulled through in the 100 meters, placing 8th overall with a time of 13.27.
Earning Honorable Mention in the HCAC was the men's 4x100 team! The team comprised of Thomas, Gist, Shawk and Lough took 3rd place overall with a collective time of 42.98!
The women's 4x100 team comprised of Kinsey Myers (Stryker), Adams, Rider and Kerr placed 5th overall with a time of 53.42! In addition, the women's 4x400 team, comprised of freshman McKenna Mabry (Ventura, Cal/Buena), Adams, Myers, and Kerr, also placed 5th with a time of 4:28.92!
Finally, earning 1st Team All-HCAC was the Men's 4x400m Relay team! The team, comprised of senior Blayden McCoy (Fresno/Ridgewood), Gist, Lough and Shawk took home gold an impressive time of 3:20.63!
The men's team finished in 3rd overall, while the women's team placed 8th.
"We dealt with a lot of adversity on the weekend, experiencing all sorts of weather and missing some key points, but what was awesome to see was the young crew step up and help make up some of the points we could have missed out on. I'm definitely excited to see what next year brings with this group," explained Coach Gulick.
Head Coach Ben Markison explained that the competition went about as well as it could have. "You are always going to lose points in some events and gain some in others that you didn't plan on, but I feel like as a whole we gained a lot more than we lost, despite losing Joey, who contributed 20 points at the HCAC Indoor Championships earlier this season, for all of Saturday."
Coach Markison went on to comment about the team's overall performance and morale by saying, "A lot of the team came in with the right mindset and left it all on the track and I think it shows that with how many conference champions and school records we had this weekend. The team made huge progress over the course of the season. I think we did well indoors, but it felt like with each meet we were just getting better and better which is what you want to strive for."
Proud of their accomplishments, the Beavers returned home to rest, recover, and re-energize themselves before beginning their summer training cycle in preparation for the 2024-25 seasons!
-BEAVERS-