Warriors Earn Solid Marks at Meets in Iowa and Kansas

ORANGE CITY, Iowa – Midland University took part in a busy week of competition, splitting its squad between the Red Raider Open in Orange City, Iowa, and the prestigious Kansas Relays in Lawrence, Kansas. The Warriors recorded multiple top finishes and hit a national qualifying mark as the outdoor season heats up.

At the Red Raider Open, Robert Atwater stood out with a trio of top-three finishes. He won the high jump with a clearance of 2.01 meters, placed third in the pole vault at 4.65 meters, and captured the triple jump title with a leap of 14.67 meters. Teammates Khalil Thorps-Watt and Garrett Guindon added depth in the horizontal jumps, placing third (13.56m) and fourth (13.38m), respectively, in the triple jump. Thorps-Watt also finished sixth in the long jump with a mark of 6.62 meters, while Guindon was 10th at 6.34 meters.

On the track, Evan Shepard earned a runner-up finish in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.11 seconds and added a 10th-place showing in the 400-meter hurdles (1:01.59). Jameson Painter clocked 22.64 seconds to place ninth in the 200 meters, and Kelvin Korir took fifth in the 3000-meter steeplechase (10:49.26).

In throws, Jase Voorhees placed fifth in the discus (44.16m), while Nate Osness had a pair of top-10 finishes, taking 10th in the shot put (13.24m) and seventh in the hammer (45.67m). Hunter Weirich joined him in the hammer with a 10th-place mark of 41.14 meters. Josiah Meyer rounded out the field events with a fifth-place throw in the javelin (50.75m).

Meanwhile, at the Kansas Relays, Midland's middle-distance and distance athletes turned in strong performances. Henri Stoeckermann (1:57.54) and Braden Taylor (2:01.49) placed 9th and 27th, respectively, in the 800 meters. Lucas Hjortkjaer ran 4:00.24 to place fourth in the 1500 meters, and Jonathan Mahoney finished 23rd in the 5000 meters (16:28.69). Kenicious Limo posted a runner-up finish in the 10,000 meters with a time of 31:51.33.

The Warriors' relay teams also made an impact. The 4x800-meter relay team of Taylor, Koen Steenblok, Hjortkjaer, and Stoeckermann placed third in 7:42.47, achieving the NAIA "B" Standard. The 4x400-meter relay squad of Noah Sherman, Raheem Richards, Chris Medlock, and Kenya Ford earned sixth place with a time of 3:18.76. In the 4x100-meter relay, Sherman, Ford, Medlock, and Aiden Mountain combined for a 15th-place finish in 42.73 seconds.

Next week, Midland will compete in the Prairie Wolf Invite on Thursday in Lincoln, Nebraska as well as the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa on Thursday through Saturday.