VU Track and Field claims seven All-American honors at NJCAA Outdoor Nationals

Hobbs, N. M. – The Vincennes University Men's and Women's Outdoor Track and Field season came to an end this past weekend with the teams heading to New Mexico Junior College for the 2023 NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.

The three-day meet got underway Thursday afternoon with the VU pole vaulters first up for the Blue and Gold.

Freshmen Ysnaira Dos Santos Vieira (Brazil) and 2023 Indoor National Champion Julia Do Amaral Salvi (Sao Paulo, Brazil) got the meet started for VU strong by tying for fifth place after clearing a height of 3.27 meters.

"We had an incredible week at the National Championships," VU Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. "We earned seven All-American titles to go along with eight from the indoor season, making our total 15 for the year."

"Julia and Ysnaira got things started on Thursday by tying for fifth in the pole vault," Rogier added. "It's hard to be disappointed with earning a top spot at Nationals but they really did not jump to their potential."

"It was great conditions, they just didn't make the bars they needed to reclaim their spots they earned at Indoor Nationals," Rogier said.

The tradition of Trailblazer pole vaulters continued to grow with the men's event as freshman Olegs Kozjakovs (Riga, Latvia) claimed a fourth-place finish in the men's vault with a height of 4.72 meters.

Later in the weekend Kozjakovs would go on to earn All-American status in the javelin, placing eighth with a best throw of 50.05 meters.

"Olegs followed up with a fourth-place finish in the men's vault, jumping a PR of 4.72 meters," Rogier said. "It was really a very good performance, considering he is a decathlete who really had not vaulted much prior to arriving at VU in January. He also came back on Saturday to place eighth in the javelin, throwing a PR of 50.05 meters."

"An injury kept him from qualifying for the decathlon, an event we felt he could have won," Rogier added. "So it was great to see him compete so well against athletes that specialize in those individual events."

Many of the Track events scheduled for Thursday night had to be postponed to early Friday morning due to inclement weather.

The VU teams did not let this stop them however as the 4x800 relay team of sophomores Trent Faulkner (Wheatland, Ind.), Mathew Keitany (Kenya), Ernest Momodu (Indianapolis, Ind.) and freshman Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) started the second day of competition by placing 10th in the relay with a final time of 7:52.29.

Stanford would also go on to have a big improvement in the 1500-meter race, placing tenth in the prelims before shaving nearly four seconds off his time in the finals to place fifth with a time of 3:49.92.

Mathew Keitany had the best finish of any VU athlete this weekend, placing third in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:30.29.

"Mathew improved on his fourth-place finish in the 3000m steeplechase from last year," VU Assistant Track and Field Coach Tyler Steigenga said. "Mathew earned his fourth All-American honor, the same way as the three before. He used a big finishing kick to pass one competitor after the last water jump and held off the ones right behind him.

Trent Faulkner also competed in the 800 meters as well this weekend, placing 32nd with a final time of 1:57.79.

Sophomore Ian Boit (Kimilili, Kenya) placed 26th in the 10,000 meters, finishing with a time of 35:15.04.

"The 4x800 relay and 10,000 meters were originally supposed to be run on Thursday night, but with thunderstorms in the area, the meet was postponed until the next morning right as the men were about to get on the track for the relay," Steigenga said. "The events resumed on Friday morning at 7 a.m. The relay team had an off day and only managed to finish 10th, just outside of scoring position."

"Ian struggled in the 10k, but it was good to see him stick it out and finish the race as there were a lot of runners that dropped out," Steigenga added.

Freshman sprinter Desroy Jordan (Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) also competed in two events over the weekend, placing 17th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 20.81 seconds, before breaking his own school record in the 400 meters, placing fifth at 45.68 seconds.

"Desroy finished up our medal winners with a fifth-place finish in the 400 with a PR and new school record of 45.68," Rogier said. "That was just and incredible effort against a very fast field of sprinters. He ran a brilliant race out of lane eight. It's hard to stay composed when you have that much speed line up on your inside."

"They have the advantage of seeing you out there in front for the majority of the race," Rogier added. "Desroy did a great job of staying within himself, running his race and not letting that inside speed forcing him to go too fast too early."

The VU men's team was rounded out by sophomore thrower Mason Harmes (Borden, Ind.) who finished 11th in the discus with a throw of 46.71 meters.

The Trailblazer women's track team was also well represented by sophomores Brittany Page (Freelandville, Ind.) and Hope Laughlin (Olney, Ill.).

Page finished 22nd in the 800 meters with a time of 2:30.82, while Laughlin finished 23rd in the 1500 meters at 5:39.33.

"The Friday afternoon session started with Hope and Isaac each competing the 1500," Steigenga said. "Hope finished 23rd in the 1500 prelims and Isaac ran a great race to finished fourth in his heat and grabbed the second of four additional time qualifiers for the finals."

"Isaac returned for the 1500 finals on Saturday and had an amazing race against twelve other runners," Steigenga said. "The7 started off with a hot pace as the field came through 400 meters in 58 seconds. Everyone was pretty close together as Isaac sat in the back of the pack for the next few laps, not losing any distance and moving up when he needed to."

"With 150 meters to go, Isaac started his hick and he immediately moved into sixth place," Steigenga added. "In the home stretch, he was gaining on the competitors in front of him and managed to pass one with 50 meters to go and come across the finish line fifth and set a new school record of 3:49.92."

"We got off to a bit of a rough start on the distance events," Steigenga added. "But Mathew and Isaac did a fantastic job bringing things back. Mathew's steeple was amazing as he showed once again that he has one of the best finishing kicks in the NJCAA. Isaac's run was incredible. It really showed how far he's come as a runner this season. He ran the race intelligently and composed and showed how much of a competitor he is."

"On top of his fifth-place finish, breaking the school record at that altitude was crazy," Steigenga said. "His time converts to a 3:46 at sea level, which is on a totally different level. To accomplish what he did as an 18-year-old freshman is a testament to how dedicated and driven he is to achieving his goals. He is going to do some even bigger things next year."

Brittany and Trent both ran the 800 meters," Steigenga added. "Brittany was able to be competitive in her heat and Trent had a good effort coming off the relay earlier that morning."

The VU women's team placed 24th overall with seven points on the weekend, while the VU men's team moved up quite a few spots in the rankings to place 15th with 20 points on the meet.

New Mexico Junior College claimed the Women's Outdoor National Championship, while NMJC's men's team tied with South Plains Community College for the Men's Championship.

"it was just an incredible overall meet," Rogier said. "It's going to take some time to really wrap my mind around how good those performances by Desroy and Isaac really are. It was a really good year with a great group of kids that were really fun and showed great character throughout the year. They were great ambassadors for VU."

"I also just can't say enough about the job Tyler did with his group of runners," Rogier added. "He is an excellent young coach. We are very fortunate to have him at VU. He is an inspiration to his athletes and a tremendous representative for VU."

"It's always kind of bittersweet to see the season come to an end," Rogier said. "It's a long season for us because we start competing with Cross Country on Labor Day weekend and begin training with everyone else in October. We compete through the fall, winter and spring. To say it's a grind is a bit of an understatement. But in the end, it is so satisfying to see all the hard work pay off."

"With the group we have returning and the athletes coming in in the fall, I think next year could be really promising," Rogier added.

The Trailblazer Track program also brought home more hardware from this weekend, with Olegs Kozjakovs being named 2023 Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year, Coach Marty Rogier being named Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and former VU Coach Tim Marsee and former VU pole vaulter Matteo Capello being inducted into the NJCAA Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

"Olegs also earned the Atlantic Region Athlete of the Year award," Rogier said. "He earned that by being ranked near the top of the leaderboard in several events. Along with the vault and javelin, he was also ranked among the top-10 athletes in the shot put and discus in our Region."

TEAM RESULTS

VU Men – 15, 20 points

VU Women – 24, 7 points

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

MEN'S RESULTS

200m

Desroy Jordan – 17, 20.81

400m

Desroy Jordan – 5, 45.68

800m

Trent Faulkner – 32, 1:57.79

1500m

Isaac Stanford – 5, 3:49.92

10,000m

Ian Boit – 35:15.04

3000m Steeplechase

Mathew Keitany – 3, 9:30.29

4x800 Relay

VU (Faulkner, Keitany, Momodu, Stanford) – 10, 7:52.29

Pole Vault

Olegs Kozjakovs – 4, 4.72m

Discus

Mason Harmes – 11, 46.71m

Javelin

Olegs Kozjakovs – 8, 50.05m

Women's Results

800m

Brittany Page – 22, 2:30.82

1500m

Hope Laughlin – 23, 5:39.33

Pole Vault

Ysnaira Dos Santos Vieira – T5, 3.27m

Julia Do Armaral Salvi – T5, 3.27m