2014 KCAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships

Men's Events-to-Watch

Sprints/Hurdles

The KCAC men's sprints and hurdles will have new champions in 2014. Double 2013 sprint champion Carlos Cox is gone, but last year's runner-ups at 100 and 200 meters, Dexter Davis (Friends-SO) and Anthony Perry (Ottawa-JR), respectively, are back. Davis and Alex Grier (Tabor-SR) split the conference indoor short sprints in February and each has met the national qualifying standards in both the 100 and 200 outdoors this spring. Davis' KCAC leading automatic national qualifier in the 100 is tied for #5 on the NAIA list while his provisional 200-meter time is tied for #14. Grier's provisional 100 time is tied for #21, one spot lower than his provisional 200-meter mark. Perry has met the provisional standard in the 200 meters and ranks #20 on the NAIA list, just ahead of Grier. Cory Waites (U of St Mary) is eligible to defend his conference title in the 400 meters. Waites' main challenger appears to be Akim Muhammad (McPherson-JR) who won the KCAC Indoor 400 title and tops the KCAC chart just ahead of Caleb Blue (Tabor-FR).

Sterling's Cedrique Smith he has exhausted his eligibility, but not before sweeping the KCAC outdoor hurdle events a year ago before winning the Warriors' first-ever NAIA National title in the 110-meter hurdles. KCAC Indoor 60-meter Hurdle champion Lewis Taylor (Friends-SR) is the top finisher from 2013 in both outdoor hurdle events, but he will have his hands full holding off KCAC indoor runner-up Aaron Vaughan (McPherson-JR) who tops the 2014 conference 110 Hurdle list and Jason Friesen (Bethel-SO), the KCAC 400 Hurdles leader. Don't overlook Brandyn Willard (Southwestern-SR) in either barrier race since he finished right behind Taylor in both events a year ago.

100m Dash – NAIA "A 10.65/NAIA "B" 10.74; 2013 KCAC Champion – Carlos Cox (Friends) 10.67

200m Dash – NAIA "A" 21.50/NAIA "B" 21.65; 2013 KCAC Champion – Carlos Cox (Friends) 22.15

400m Dash – NAIA "A" 48.00/NAIA "B" 48.50; 2013 KCAC Champion – Cory Waites (U of St. Mary) 49.87

110m Hurdles – NAIA "A" 14.60/NAIA "B" 15.00; 2013 KCAC Champion – Cedrique Smith (Sterling) 13.97 MR

400m Hurdles – NAIA "A" 53.80/NAIA "B" 54.50; 2013 KCAC Champion – Cedrique Smith (Sterling) 53.08

Middle Distance

Brandon Sherier (McPherson-SR) returns to defend his KCAC 800-meter crown from last season and has run an NAIA Outdoor Championship automatic qualifying time of 1:52.86 (#13 NAIA). Last season's KCAC 1,500-meter champion Garrett Daugherty (Tabor-SR) swept the KCAC 1,000 meters and 1-mile indoor championships in February and returns with a provisional national qualifier at the 800-meter distance. KCAC Indoor 800 champion Maxwell Burley (Friends-FR) set the conference undercover meet record in Manhattan and can't be counted out of the title mix along with his Falcon teammate Brock Nooney (Friends-JR).

Josh Whittaker (U of St. Mary-JR) has the KCAC's only sub-4:00 time for 1,500 meters this spring. He is followed on the KCAC list by Daugherty and the Southwestern duo of Sam McDaniel (SR) and Taylor Parker (JR) who finished right behind Daugherty in the KCAC indoor 1-mile and 1-kilometer, respectively, this winter.

800m Run – NAIA "A" 1:53.00/NAIA "B" 1:54.00; 2013 KCAC Champion – Brandon Sherier (McPherson) 1:53.82

1,500m Run – NAIA "A" 3:54.50/NAIA "B" 3:56.50; 2013 KCAC Champion – Garrett Daugherty (Tabor) 3:59.99

Distance

There will be new KCAC champions in all three men's distance races in 2014. Brooks Ballou (U of St. Mary-JR) and Colton McNinch (Southwestern-JR) went one-two at the KCAC cross-country championships last fall then finished in the same order at the 3,000-meter distance indoors. Ballou tops the 10,000-meter list with an automatic national qualifier (#8 NAIA) while McNinch tops the KCAC outdoor 5,000-meter chart and has a provisional national qualifier in the 10-kilometer run (#17 NAIA). Nick Haines (U of St. Mary-SR) already has an automatic NAIA National qualifying

mark (#6 NAIA) in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase and is a big favorite in that event since he leads the conference by 35 seconds.

3k Steeplechase – NAIA "A" 9:20.00/NAIA "B" 9:29.00; 2013 KCAC Champion – Frank Adelman (Southwestern) 9:39.02

5,000m Run – NAIA "A" 14:45.00/NAIA "B" 14:59.00; 2013 KCAC Champion – Caesar Castillo (U of St. Mary) 15:19.20

10,000m Run – NAIA"A" 31:00.00/NAIA "B" 31:30.00; 2013 KCAC Champion – Frank Adelman (Southwestern) 32:29.61

Jumps

McPherson has won five straight KCAC outdoor high jump titles, but the 2014 title is up for grabs. Dylan Biedron (Friends-JR), Hunter Cline (Southwestern-JR) and Tyler Entz (Tabor-SO) are tied for the conference lead with outdoor bests of 6'4" with three others follow at 6'2" in what is a wide-open event.

Cayd Bloomquist (Southwestern-JR) is back to defend his 2013 KCAC crown after he committed the cardinal sin by no-heighting at the KCAC Indoor Championships. He is again the big favorite outdoors since he has the conference's best mark by over a foot and is only five centimeters shy of the NAIA provisional standard. Ryin Brandt (Ottawa-SR) took advantage of Bloomquist's error indoors to grab the undercover title after finishing second a year ago outdoors before winning the 2013 indoor title.

Anthony Perry (Ottawa-JR) won the KCAC Indoor long jump title after finishing second outdoors in 2013, but he has yet to post an outdoor mark this spring. Xavier Caldwell (Bethel-FR) finished second in the KCAC Indoor long jump and has a provisional national qualifier (#14 NAIA) to lead the KCAC outdoors. Marlon Clayton (McPherson-FR) won the KCAC undercover triple jump crown but ranks second outdoors this spring to Steven James (Sterling-FR) who tops the conference outdoor list by over a foot with an provisional national qualifier (#15 NAIA).

High Jump – NAIA "A" 2.06m(6-9)/NAIA "B" 2.03m(6-8); 2013 KCAC Champion – Garrett Sharp (McPherson) 1.98m(6-6)

Pole Vault – NAIA "A" 4.80m(15-9)/NAIA "B" 4.70m(15-5); 2013 KCAC Champion – Cayd Bloomquist (Southwestern) 4.40m(14-5.25)

Long Jump – NAIA "A" 7.18m(23-6.75)/NAIA "B" 7.08m(23-2.75); 2013 KCAC Champion – Carlos Cox (Friends) 6.78m(22-3)

Triple Jump – NAIA "A" 14.50m(47-7)/NAIA "B" 14.25m(46-9); 2013 KCAC Champion – Artrail Skipper (Southwestern) 13.54m(44-5.25)

Throws

Paul Rotering (McPherson-SR) won the KCAC Indoor shot put and leads the conference outdoors by almost three feet while he chases the elusive national qualifying mark. Emmanuel Aceves (Friends-SR) (#20 NAIA) and Chris Paddock (Southwestern-SR) (#26 NAIA) took advantage of the aiding winds at the Southwestern Relays to throw automatic national qualifying marks in the discus and take over the top two spots on the KCAC list. Josh Dunback (McPherson-SR) and Rotering follow and lead a McPherson throwing crew that has five of the next six KCAC performers. Robert Nenadal (Tabor-SR) finished second in last year's KCAC hammer throw and tops 2014 conference list ahead of Dunback who won the KCAC Indoor 35-pound weight throw.

Seth Derr (Bethany-FR) tops the KCAC chart in the javelin by 15-feet with an automatic national qualifier (#5 NAIA) after winning last weekend's Drake Relays college division. Winner of two of the last three KCAC javelin titles, Rotering is attempting to become only the fourth individual to win three or more conference javelin titles in the last 40 years of the KCAC Championships. He too has an automatic national qualifier (#8 NAIA) and leads defending champion Derek Racette (Friends-JR) has his own provision qualifier (#12 NAIA) and wants to join Rotering as a two-time conference javelin champion. The KCAC meet record in the javelin (205'5"/62.63m) has been held by Jeff Buller (Bethel) since 2007, but that mark appears to be in real danger of falling in 2014.

Shot Put – NAIA "A" 15.54m(51-0)/NAIA "B" 15.43m(50-7.5); 2013 KCAC Champion – Michael Klaassen (Tabor) 14.42m(47-3.75)

Discus Throw – NAIA "A" 48.00m(157-6)/NAIA "B" 47.00m(154-2); 2013 KCAC Champion – Josh Dunback (McPherson) 45.94m(150-9)

Hammer Throw – NAIA "A" 53.00m(173-11)/NAIA "B" 52.00m(170-7); 2013 KCAC Champion – Michael Klaassen (Tabor) 49.90m(163-8)

Javelin Throw – NAIA "A" 58.00m(190-3)/NAIA "B" 56.08m(184-0); 2013 KCAC Champion – Derek Racette (Friends) 56.09m(184-0)

Relays

Friends is the defending champion in the short (4x100m) relay and leads the 2014 KCAC list with an early season mark from the Friends Enduro Classic. Tabor won the KCAC Indoor 4x400-meter Relay, but McPherson leads the

conference outdoors with defending outdoor champion University of St. Mary currently second. Not surprisingly, Southwestern leads the 2014 KCAC 4x800 Relay list by 25 seconds. While Tabor won the 2013 conference title, Southwestern has won 14 of the 16 4x800-meter Relay titles contested in conference history, a streak broken only by Friends in 2001 and Tabor last year.

4x100m Relay – NAIA "A" 41.53/NAIA "B" 41.99; 2013 KCAC Champion – Friends 42.39

4x400m Relay – NAIA "A" 3:16.00/NAIA "B" 3:17.00; 2013 KCAC Champion – U of Saint Mary 3:19.82

4x800m Relay – NAIA "A" 7:45.00/NAIA "B" 7:49.00; 2013 KCAC Champion – Tabor 7:43.72

Team Title Race

Friends won its second straight team title in 2013, turning back second place Tabor by 33 points. The 2013 KCAC

meet was the first time since 1978 that Southwestern had not won the men's team championship (28 times) or finished second (5 times) in the last 34 editions of the KCAC Outdoor Championships. At the KCAC Indoor Championships in February, Southwestern won a second straight team crown, edging McPherson by just six points.

Southwestern's last outdoor team championship came in 2011 when the Builders turned back McPherson for the team title by 9 ½ points so the question(s) now are: Can Friends win a third straight outdoor team title? Will Southwestern reclaim the team crown as Coach Jim Helmer bows out as the Moundbuilders' head coach? Can Tabor or McPherson finally break through and grab their first team title since 1975? Let the games begin!

2013 KCAC Indoor Track & Field Championships

WOMEN's Events-to-Watch

Sprints/Hurdles

Four ladies have run qualifying times for the 2014 NAIA National Outdoor Championships in the 100 meters, but surprisingly none is the defending KCAC champion Rea Samuels (McPherson-SO). Leading the 2014 KCAC list with automatic qualifying times are Angeline Vailas (Friends-FR) (#9 NAIA), winner of the conference indoor 60-meter title, and Jazmine Alexander (McPherson-JR) (#19 NAIA) who placed in both the 200 and 400 meters indoors. McPherson also brings to the KCAC's top five in the 100 meters provisional national qualifiers Taylor Smiley (McPherson-JR) and Sharica Pleasant (McPherson-SR), last season's 100m runner-up, along with Kaley Kinnamon (McPherson-FR) the KCAC Indoor 60m runner-up.

Not satisfied with just one qualifier, Vailas has a second automatic qualifier in (#20 NAIA) the 200 meters and leads the conference. She is again followed by McPherson's Alexander, who has a provisional NAIA qualifier, along with Kinnamon, Smiley and Pleasant.

Don't overlook former KCAC sprint champion Christine Sheppard (Southwestern-SR) in any of the three sprints. She has won KCAC titles at all four of the sprint distances (60, 100, 200 and 400 meters) and most recently won the KCAC indoor 400 title. Sheppard tops the 2014 outdoor KCAC 400 list ahead of Kinnamon and defending outdoor conference champion Taylor Sisneros (Southwestern-SR)

Topping the KCAC Outdoor charts in the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdle events are Sharica Pleasant (McPherson-SR) and Kaitlyn Keck (Friends-SO), which rank among the NAIA's top 10 in the seven-event, two-day heptathlon (Pleasant, #6 NAIA; Keck, #11 NAIA). Pleasant, the KCAC defending champion in the 100-meter hurdles (#15 NAIA), has an automatic NAIA qualifier in the 100m hurdles just ahead of provisional national qualifiers Kimberly Garrett (Sterling-JR) and Maddie Behny (Friends-JR). Keck leads the KCAC in the longer, 400-meter hurdle race with the KCAC's defending champion Garrett again sitting in the second spot on the 2014 list.

100m Dash – NAIA "A" 12.00/NAIA "B" 12.25; 2013 KCAC Champion – Rea Samuels (McPherson) 12.06

200m Dash – NAIA "A" 24.99/NAIA "B" 25.09; 2013 KCAC Champion – Rea Samuels (McPherson) 25.53

400m Dash – NAIA "A" 57.00/NAIA "B" 57.36; 2013 KCAC Champion – Taylor Sisneros (Southwestern) 59.78

100m Hurdles – NAIA "A" 14.90/NAIA "B" 15.09; 2013 KCAC Champion – Sharica Pleasant (McPherson) 14.89

400m Hurdles – NAIA "A" 1:04.00/NAIA "B" 1:04.70; 2013 KCAC Champion – Kimberly Garrett (Sterling) 1:06.25

Middle Distance

Cassie Hollenback (Southwestern-SO), the defending KCAC outdoor champion at 800 and 1,500 meters, won a 1,000 meters/1-mile double at this winter's KCAC Indoor Championships while her teammate Ashley Schoenhofer (Southwestern-SO) won the 800 meters. Hollenback hasn't registered an outdoor time this spring though and Schoenhofer has only a single 800 meters under her belt. In the absence of the defending champions Jena Richardson (Ottawa-SR) and Jordan Calderwood (Ottawa-FR) have assumed the lead spots on the KCAC lists for the 800 and 1,500, respectively. These middle distance events may be the most competitive of the weekend with multiple ladies are eyeing possible KCAC titles, a group that includes Madison Caffrey (Sterling-FR), Cori Hunt (Southwestern-SR), Karoline Banasik (U of St. Mary-SR), Rachel Renken (Friends-SR), Valarie Segay (Kansas Wesleyan-JR) and Amber Burgess (Sterling-JR).

800m Run – NAIA "A" 2:14.50/NAIA "B" 2:16.00; 2013 KCAC Champion – Cassie Hollenback (Southwestern) 2:21.71

1,500m Run – NAIA "A" 4:40.10/NAIA "B" 4:42.50; 2013 KCAC Champion – Cassie Hollenback (Southwestern) 4:48.34

Distance

Multiple KCAC champion Cecilia Burley (Friends) and 5k/10k runner-up Sydnee Nelson (Southwestern) have exhausted their eligibility so there will be some new faces on the top spots of the medal podium in 2014. Rachel Renken (Friends-SR) won the KCAC Indoor 3,000 meters and Kelsey Buffum (Southwestern-SO) came away with the indoor 5,000 crown, but the KCAC outdoor form chart has Valerie Segay (Kansas Wesleyan-JR) leading the 5,000 while Sydney Roy (Friends-FR) tops the 10,000 list, both by comfortable margins. Brielle Lund (Tabor-SR) ranks #2 on the KCAC 5k list and can present a challenge to the favorites in either or both of the 1,500 or 5,000-meter races. Rachel Renken (Friends-SR) won last year's 3k Steeplechase title after finishing second as a sophomore. She has run a provisional national qualifying time this spring and tops the KCAC list, but Hillary Callaway (Kansas Wesleyan-SR) is closing in on that "B Standard" time and could present a real challenge.

Don't be surprised if we see Renken (Friends-SR) move up and also contest the two longest flat races as well since the Steeplechase and 10,000 meters are four hours apart on Friday and the 5,000 doesn't come until late Saturday. Coaches like to use these three events to "steal" points toward the team championship race and you will see a lot of doubles and triples not regularly seen up to this point of the season.

3k Steeplechase – NAIA "A" 11:25.00/NAIA "B" 11:35.20; 2013 KCAC Champion – Cecilia Burley (Friends) 11:29.19

5,000m Run – NAIA "A" 17:46.30/NAIA "B" 17:50.00; 2013 KCAC Champion – Cecilia Burley (Friends) 18:42.92

10,000m Run – NAIA "A" 37:30.00/NAIA "B" 38:13.00; 2013 KCAC Champion – Cecilia Burley (Friends) 39:15.40

Jumps

Kaitlyn Davis (Bethany-SR) won the KCAC Indoor high jump title on misses over Bailey Collier (Southwestern-FR) as both cleared a KCAC Indoor meet record height of 5'7 ¾"/1.72m in Manhattan. They have the conference's only provisional national qualifying marks (#12 NAIA) to date this spring at 5'5"/1.65m. Kristen Harris (Tabor-SR) won the KCAC pole vault indoors this winter after finishing second outdoors last spring, but she and Brooke Doerksen (Friends-SO), the KCAC indoor runner-up, enter the 2014 Championships tied for the top spot on the KCAC list and look to again battle for the vault title.

There will be new KCAC outdoor champions in both horizontal jumps this spring with the graduation of multiple-KCAC jumps champion Emily Post (Tabor). Kayla Wilson (Southwestern-FR) won the long jump and Arryana Barton (McPherson-SR) the triple jump at the KCAC Indoors in Manhattan.

Wilson tops the KCAC long jump list with an automatic national qualifier (#4 NAIA) ten inches ahead of Abby Simon's (Friends-FR) provisional national mark (=#18 NAIA) in the single leap with Dajana Gliesche (McPherson-FR) sitting third just one centimeter short of NAIA provisional mark. Barton concluded her indoor season with a third place finish at the NAIA National Indoor triple jump. She already has an automatic NAIA Outdoor qualifier (#5 NAIA) in the triple jump, but enters the weekend ranked second on the KCAC list to Ashley Stanford's (Sterling-SO)

automatic qualifier (#4 NAIA) while Kaitlyn Keck (Friends-SO) has the conference's third automatic NAIA qualifier (#17 NAIA) in the triple jump. Wilson adds a provisional national qualifier in the triple jump so she is scheduled for double duty at the national championships in the horizontal jumps.

High Jump – NAIA "A" 1.68m(5-6)/NAIA "B" 1.65m(5-5); 2013 KCAC Champion – Emily Post (Tabor) 1.70m(5-7)

Pole Vault – NAIA "A" 3.60m(11-9.75)/NAIA "B" 3.50m(11-5.75); 2013 KCAC Champion – Tina Clausen (Friends) 3.35m(10-11.75) MR

Long Jump – NAIA "A" 5.65m(18-6.5)/NAIA "B" 5.49m(18-0.25); 2013 KCAC Champion – Emily Post (Tabor) 5.45m(17-10.75)

Triple Jump – NAIA "A" 11.50m(37-8.75)/NAIA "B" 11.30m(37-1); 2013 KCAC Champion – Emily Post (Tabor) 12.22m(40-1.25) MR

Throws

Arryana Barton (McPherson-JR), [Yes, the triple jumper!] leads the KCAC shot putters by three feet with a provisional national qualifying mark (#15 NAIA). The next three finishers from the KCAC Indoor shot put follow on the outdoor form chart led by Alex VanSickle (Southwestern-FR), Brooke Bush (McPherson-FR), the indoor runner-up, and Sharica Pleasant (McPherson-SR).

Erin Bradley (Bethel-SR) and Ashley Lyons (Friends-SR) finished one-two in the discus at the 2013 KCAC Outdoor, reversing their finishing positions from 2012, and they return as the top two KCAC plate slingers and toss-up favorites in 2014. Megan Pohlmann (McPherson-SR) placed second in the 2013 hammer throw before winning the KCAC Indoor weight throw this winter. She leads the rest of the conference in the ball-and-wire event by over 29 feet with a throw of 154'3" which threatens the KCAC meet record of 154'6" set in 2008 by Michelle Baltimore (Bethany) and is a provisional national qualifier.

Miranda Burton (Bethany-SO) returns to defend her 2013 KCAC title in the javelin, an event she leads the conference in by almost 15 feet with an automatic national qualifying mark of 136'7" (#7 NAIA).

Shot Put – NAIA "A" 13.50m(44-3.5)/NAIA "B" 13.05m(42-9.75); 2013 KCAC Champion – Tynan Honn (Tabor) 13.49m(44-3.25)

Discus Throw – NAIA "A" 43.50m(142-8)/NAIA "B" 42.40m(139-1); 2013 KCAC Champion – Erin Bradley (Bethel) 40.41m(132-7)

Hammer Throw – NAIA "A" 50.21m(164-8)/NAIA "B" 46.94m(154-0); 2013 KCAC Champion – Tynan Honn (Tabor) 44.10m(144-8)

Javelin Throw – NAIA "A" 41.00m(134-675)/NAIA "B" 39.16m(128-6); 2013 KCAC Champion – Miranda Burton (Bethany) 40.13m(131-8)

Relays

McPherson will defend its conference title in the 4x100 while Southwestern returns as the defending champion in the 4x400 and 4x800. McPherson's 4x100 relay is the KCAC's only automatic NAIA relay qualifier (#5 NAIA) to date, but Southwestern lurks close behind with a provisional qualifying time (#18 NAIA). McPherson and Southwestern enter the weekend ranked 1-2 on the KCAC 4x400-meter Relay list, separated by only 0.36 of a second. In the 4x800, Ottawa leads the conference with Sterling ranked #2, three and a half seconds back.

4x100m Relay – NAIA "A" 47.99/NAIA "B" 48.32; 2013 KCAC Champion – McPherson 48.45

4x400m Relay – NAIA "A" 3:55.00/NAIA "B" 3:56.80; 2013 KCAC Champion – Southwestern 4:00.76

4x800m Relay – NAIA "A" 9:28.00/NAIA "B" 9:32.60; 2013 KCAC Champion – Southwestern 9:43.29

Team Title Race

Friends has won four straight KCAC outdoor women's team titles after Southwestern put together a 17-year conference title win streak. While Southwestern has held serve indoors, winning the last two conference titles, McPherson, Tabor and Bethany have all placed second either indoors or outdoors at least once over the past four years and have hearts and minds set on winning a KCAC team title. Bethany's last outdoor team title came in 1991 while McPherson's last team championship came in 1977. Tabor is still looking for its first ever KCAC women's track & field team championship.

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