The Friends University Track and Field team started their Indoor Season this past Saturday at the Bob Timmons Challenge on the campus of Kansas University. The meet consisted of some of the best talent in the Midwest as almost 20 schools were in participation including multiple Division 1 and Division 2 institutions. The Falcons came away with a handful of personal bests, some valuable experience, and 1 NAIA National Qualifier in true freshman from Wichita, KS (Kapaun Mt. Carmel High School) Angie Vailas as she ran a blazing time of 7.82 in the 60M, which bested the National 'B" standard of 7.85.

The Sprinters were eager to compete as they have been training 5 days a week since the beginning of September with no contests until this date. Despite their age, 3 true freshman on the women's time rose to the occasion and started off the year with some great times in the 60M and 200M dash. Vailas hit the National 'B" Standard in the 60M with a time of 7.82 and she also was the Falcons top finisher in the 200M with a 26.44. Abby Simon (Freshman from Andale, Kan.) ran 8.04 in the 60m and 26.59 in the 200M. Jamie Alexander (Valley Center, Kan.) also ran extremely well in the 60M with a time of 8.20. These 3 ladies times in the 60M would have placed all 3 of them in the top 5 at the KCAC Indoor conference meet last winter. The Hurdles also brought in some great times for the Falcon ladies as Madison Behny (Andale, Kan.), the KCAC Runner-up in the Hurdles last year posted a time of 9.69, while Sophomore Multi-Event Athlete Kaitlyn Keck (Haysville, Kan.) ran a life time personal best of 9.94. On the Men's side the Falcons were led by their seniors. Dan Moran (Maize, Kan.) competed well in both the 200M (23.91) and 400M (53.34) and Lewis Taylor (Wichita, Kan.) tied his personal best in the 60 Hurdles (8.62) while also running a great 400 meter split on the Men's Distance Medley Relay.

The jumping events proved to be a daunting task for the Falcons as a few of the team members did not clear their opening heights in a few events. However, 2 ladies performed extremely well in the Triple Jump to get the falcons moving in the right direction. Freshman Connor Reh, and sophomore Kaitlyn Keck both jumped over 34' in their first meet on the season. Both of these athletes can fight for a chance to go to nationals with the standard being in the 35's. The Beidron Twins (Wichita, Kan.) also competed well in the Triple Jump with Dylan jumping 12.80m and Trevor just behind him with a 12.03m. The day's best long jump for the men came from Lewis Taylor (5.80m) and from Abby Simon on the Women's end (4.99) To finish a solid day of field events junior throws specialist John Burba (Haysville, Kan.) hit a huge personal best in the Weight Throw with a toss of over 46 feet. That throw would have placed him 2^nd at last year's KCAC Indoor Conference Meet.

The Distance squad was small in numbers this week as the majority of the team was still on a rest period from the conclusion of the cross country season. Peyton Wade (Haviland, Kan.) continues to be one of the Falcons top distance runners as he posted a time of 9:01.97 in the 3,000M which is 9 seconds faster than his first 3,000 of the year last year. The 800 got the ladies moving as Natasha Burley (Ponca City, Okla.) ran 2:35.76 and Ellie Newlin (Wichita, Kan.) posted an Indoor Personal best of 2:39.91. Freshman Max Burley (Ponca City, Okla.) got his first track action of the year with a 1:18.16 in the 600 yard, while his teammate Michael Gurley ran the 1000 in 2:47.96. The Falcons finished the meet with a few relays. The Men's DMR ran (10:57.35) and the Women's 4x400 posted a time of 4:22.49.

Head Women's Coach Cole Davis had these remarks on the meet. "Overall, this was one of the best first meets we have had while I have been coaching here. Our young athletes came out and competed extremely well and our seniors showed their leadership and posted some times that tell me they are ready for another great season. I couldn't be happier for Angie Vailas, she is an extremely talented athlete who is going to be a force to be reckoned with come the KCAC meet as well as Nationals. She works hard every single day and is by far one of the most improved athletes on the team since our first practice in September. I am looking forward to getting our full team in action after Christmas break at Johnson County. This is going to be a great year to be a Falcon."

Head Men's Coach, Damian Smithhisler commented on the performances in saying: "I came away from this first meet feeling exceptionally excited about our initial competition. This was a great start for so many athletes and our team. I was very proud of how we supported each other, and the way that each athlete prepared and competed on this big stage. There are things that occur in a track meet that are out of your control. For example, being in a small heat, or having to run back in forth between simultaneous events. We rolled with those punches well and saw some great performances. On the men's side, John Burba showed the greatest improvement from a year ago in the weight throw. He has worked hard during this fall semester and it showed. It's exciting for us as coaches to now have data to work with, in projecting the conference battle. Adding the rest of our team after Christmas Break is really going to ramp things up. This first competition group set the bar at a nice level for all to compete at during the spring semester."

The Falcons next competition will be this Friday, December 13^th as 5 athletes will be traveling to Kansas State University to compete in the pentathlon at the Carol Robinson Multi-Events.