Flames set two program records in Kearney
KEARNEY, Neb. – College of Saint Mary athletes established seven personal bests and two program records on Friday as they participated in the Central Nebraska Challenge at Kearney High School, co-hosted by the University of Nebraska at Kearney and Hastings College.
"After a long break between indoor and outdoor seasons, this meet served as a 'rust-buster' for us,'' CSM Coach Steve Gordon Jr. said. "The 'Flame Throwerz' (as they are nicknamed) were the show today!''
The meet featured NCAA Division I and II competition, including athletes from Nebraska, Creighton, Omaha and Nebraska Kearney, along with several schools at the NAIA level.
The two program records came in the throws. In the discus, sophomore Clare Ullery set a new school standard with a toss of 38.17 meters (125 feet, 3 inches), good for 25th place. And in the hammer throw, freshman Syd'ney Birch-George set a new school mark of 40.28 (132-2), good for 21st.
Other notable throws included Tavia Williams, 26th in the discus at 36.85 (120-11) and Madalynn Rhodes, seventh in the javelin at 38.02 (124-9).
"With average winds of 38 mph at one point, all of the running and jumping events were affected – both positively and adversely – with even great times being noted as 'wind-aided' and not counted for official records, even if they surpassed them,'' Gordon said. "But the throwing events are not penalized by wind readings, so everything was up for grabs as the Flames began to gain momentum from the very beginning of the meet.''
On the track, Savannah Horne placed eighth in the 100 in 12.09 seconds. She also led the Flames' contingent in the 200, clocking 25.65 for 11th place. Other notable performances on the track included Mikaiya Rodgers, 17th in the 200 in 26.09; Mackenzie Stanley, 19th in the 200 (26.17) and 15th in the 400 (1:02.47); Taylor Hrabik, 27th in the 200 (26.93); and Kiley Craft, 26th in the 1,500 (5:22.00).
"The sprinters had an equally impressive day,'' Gordon said.
Here are the rest of the CSM results from Friday:
100: 18, Mikaiya Rodgers 12.57; 25, Taylor Hrabik 12.90.
200: 31, Ava Hilger 27.15.
400: 20, Ciara Williams 1:05.89; 21, Ava Hilger 1:06.20.
5,000: 2, Autumn Simons 21:19.19.
Long jump: 25, Taylor Hrabik 4.83 (15-10¼); 28, Chainey Thompson 4.72 (15-6).
Triple jump: 11, Allison Isaacson 10.50 (34-5½).
Shot put: 6, Claire Caspersen 13.28 (43-7); 19, Tavia Williams 11.55 (37-10¾); 28, Marie Bias 10.69 (35-1); 30, Georgia Carroll 10.67 (35- ¼); 32, Syd'ney Birch-George 10.61 (34-9¾).
Discus: 31, Claire Caspersen 36.18 (118-8); 32, Syd'ney Birch-George 35.56 (116-8); 34, Rylie Priester 35.05 (115-0); 44, Georgia Carroll 28.94 (94-11).
Hammer: 28, Clare Ullery 39.10 (128-3); 36, Claire Caspersen 36.20 (118-9); 44, Madalynn Rhodes 32.02 (105-1); 47, Tavia Williams 31.31 (102-9).
Javelin: 30, Rylie Priester 18.06 (59-3).
The Flames will be back in action Friday and Saturday at the Concordia Invitational in Seward, Neb.