VU Track and Field close to postseason form after busy split weekend

Posted: Apr 28, 2024

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The number of National qualifiers continues to rise for the Vincennes University Men's and Women's Track and Field teams as the Blazers had another good weekend at two separate meets.

The distance runners for the VU Trailblazers headed up north earlier this week to take part in the GVSU Extra Weekend meet at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich. Thursday evening.

The men's distance crew was led by sophomore Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) who headed a group of VU runners in the 800 meters with a time of 1:53.22, good for fourth overall.

Sophomore Matthew Gray (Washington, Ind.) and freshman Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.) ran a tight race, finishing neck and neck with Gray placing 27th with a time of 1:59.14 and Spence ending with a time of 1:59.22 for 28th place.

Freshman Max Pendley (French Lick, Ind.) rounded out the VU runners in the 800 meters with a time of 2:12.43 and a 45th place finish overall.

Freshman Brahym Sakka (Tunisia) had a big day in the 1500 meters, placing second in his heat with a time of 3:57.58 for 27th overall.

Freshman Bryaun Manuel (East St. Louis, Ill.) joined Sakka in the 1500, finishing with a time of 4:17.29 in 64th place.

Freshman Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) took on the 5000 meter race, finishing with a time of 16:01.12 in 59th overall.

The VU men's distance crew Thursday was closed out by freshmen Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) and Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.) competing in the 3000 meter steeplechase.

Hostetler led the way with a 17th place finish with a time of 10:08.83 and Whitehead ended at 10:34.99 in 24th.

The VU women's distance runners were led Thursday by freshman Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) who took home 20th in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 11:45.67.

Freshmen Emilly Barbosa (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Grayson Haynes (Sebree, Ky.) competed in the 1500 meter race, with Barbosa winning her heat with a time of 4:50.95 to take 24th, while Haynes posted a time of 5:30.64 in 63rd overall.

Freshman Jasmyn Self (Casey, Ill.) closed out the VU results at Grand Valley State, winning her heat of the 800 meters with a time of 2:31.49 to take home 45th place overall.

"After a six hour drive, Grayson got things started with an 11 second PR in the 1500," VU Assistant Track and Field and Distance Coach Tyler Steigenga said. "Bryaun improved by the same amount, running 4:17 in his heat."

"In the 800, Jasmyn led most of her heat and had a big kick in the last 150 meters to win with a new PR of 2:31," Steigenga added. "Matthew and Tanner ran in the same heat of the 800 and both ran a one second PR to finally break the two-minute barrier for the first time despite a slow first lap."

"In the steeplechase, Adi, Caden and Nathan all improved on the PRs they set last week," Steigenga said. "Adi also moved up to 10th in the NJCAA with her time."

"The fast sections of the 800 and 1500 took place after the steeple, Isaac ran a good race in the 800 to take fourth, just a half second off his PR," Steigenga added. "Emilly ran a season's best in her heat of the 1500. She ran a smart race and had a great kick in the last 150 to take the win in her heat and improve on her national qualifying standard."

"Brahym closed out the night with his second National Qualifier of the season," Steigenga said. "He ran his best race of the season and took second place. He also moved to eighth overall on the VU All-Time list."

"This was an awesome meet experience as eleven of the thirteen runners ran a PR or season's best," Steigenga added. "We also came away with three new National Qualifiers and five overall. It was a long trip but well worth it. I have so many good things I could say about the way we competed. We really stepped up when we needed to and are looking solid with three weeks to go until Nationals."

The rest of the VU Men's and Women's Track and Field teams had to wait until Saturday before they headed up to Indiana State University for the 2024 Sycamore Open.

The VU sprinters had a big showing at ISU, with freshman Olamipo Ladipo, sophomore and 600 meter Indoor National Champion Desroy Jordan and freshman Tumaini Skinner swept the top three spots in the 200 meters with Ladipo pacing the field with a time of 21.06 seconds.

Jordan took home second with a time of 21.34 seconds and Skinner placed third at 21.62 seconds.

Freshman Malik Ferdinand placed second in the 400 meters with a time of 49.38 seconds, while sophomore Cohen Gallan placed fourth in the 100 meters at 10.84 seconds and freshman Zion Pruitt took fourth in the 400 meter hurdles at 57.99 seconds.

The VU 4x400 relay team took the top spot at the meet as one of only two teams running. The Trailblazers posted a time of 3:22.69 to take the event victory.

In the field events, sophomore and Indoor Heptathlon National Champion Olegs Kozjakovs had another busy weekend, pulling triple duty by taking third in the high jump at 1.75 meters, third in the shot put at 14.56 meters and sixth in the discus with a throw of 45.54 meters.

Freshman Jacob Wickman competed in two events Saturday at ISU, placing 18th in the discus at 25.56 meters and 14th in the hammer with a throw of 37.78 meters.

Freshman Jake Terrell took home 12th in the hammer at 38.52 meters and 10th in the javelin at 42.82 meters in his two events, while sophomore Jacob Smith placed 11th in the hammer with a throw of 41.68 meters to close out the VU men's team weekend.

The VU Women's team was led by sophomore Madison Davis who placed third in the discus with a throw of 37.28 meters and took home fourth in the shot put with a throw of 12.48 meters.

Trailblazer pole vaulting National Champion sisters, freshman Sophia Amaral and sophomore Julia Amaral also had good showings Saturday, with Sophia placing fourth in the vault after clearing a height of 3.80 meters and Julia cleared 3.50 meters to place eighth.

Freshman sprinter Zinzile Gumpo rounded out the VU Track and Field weekend by taking sixth in the 100 meter hurdles with a final time of 15.95 seconds.

"I believe this was the first meet we competed in all season with temperatures over 50 degrees," VU Head Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. "We still had to deal with the wind but managed to get some good work in."

"Olamipo had an impressive performance, winning the 200 with a National Qualifying time of 21.06, which is third fastest in school history," Rogier added. "Desroy and Tumaini also ran very well, finishing second and third, giving us a sweep of the event. That does not happen often competing against NCAA Division I programs."

"Having warm temperatures finally gave us a little better idea of what we've got," Rogier said. "We had several personal bests. Jake, Jacob Smith and Madison all had PBs in the throws. Madison was very close to a National Qualifier in the shot put."

Cohen ran his first outdoor meet of the season and ran a conservative 10.84," Rogier added. "Zion had a nice race and a PB in the 400 hurdles. I believe he is getting close to figuring this race out and will continue to drop that time. Malik ran a solid 400 with his season best 49.3."

"Olegs had a couple good throws in the shot and discus just tying to tune up for his next decathlon at Nationals," Rogier said. "I kind of shut down our 4x400 team because there was only one other team running, so we just cruised in that one."

"Sophia and Julia finally had a good day to jump with a nice tail wind but did not really cash in on the opportunity," Rogier added. "We have our final regular season meet at IU Friday. I am really hoping for some decent weather so we can give it a really good effort. We have several opportunities to increase our number of qualifiers and National rankings before the Championships."

The Trailblazers will look to round into postseason shape as they head into their final meet of the 2024 Outdoor regular season when VU heads to Indiana University in Bloomington for the 2024 Billy Hayes Invitational Friday, May 3.

This will be the final tune up for the Trailblazers before heading to the 2024 NJCAA Division I Outdoor National Championships in Monroe, La.

The National Championships are set to begin Thursday, May 16 and run through Saturday, May 18 at Brown Stadium on the campus of the University of Louisiana-Monroe.

VINCENNES RESULTS

GVSU EXTRA WEEKEND RESULTS

MEN'S RESULTS

800m

Isaac Stanford – 4, 1:53.22

Matthew Gray – 27, 1:59.14

Tanner Spence – 28, 1:59.22

Max Pendley – 45, 2:12.43

1500m

Brahym Sakka – 27, 3:57.58

Bryaun Manuel -64, 4:17.29

5000m