In a busy weekend that saw the Southwestern track & field team shuttling back and forth between the Drake Relays and Kip Janvrin Open, two Spartans qualified for nationals.
Freshman Chase Oates and sophomore Molly Venteicher each hit national qualifying marks in their respective events at the Kip Janvrin Open, hosted by Simpson College.
Oates kicked off the busy weekend with a PR and school record in the 1,500 meters during Thursday evening's distance carnival. Oates, who entered the meet less than 1 second away from the national qualifying standard of 4:02.10, posted a 2-second PR of 4:01.07 to break Phil Selmer's 2019 school record set at the same meet.
"We totally revamped Chase's training coming into the outdoor season. He's bought into the vision and has done a fantastic job in his workouts. He's been inching closer and closer to that qualifying mark, so I had all the confidence in the world in him that he would get it Thursday night," said Scott Vicker, director of cross country/track & field. "One thing we've been working on with Chase is getting him out faster and not having a big drop off from lap one to lap two. I thought he executed his race perfectly Thursday. He got out in 63 and came back in 66, before finishing in 65 and 63. He knew he had to be at the front of the pack in his heat, and he stuck right in there against some great competition from Division I schools."
Oates' performance in the 1,500 capped off a perfect 3-for-3 day at the track Thursday, as sophomores Alex Bates and Robert Norton both posted big PRs in the 400 meter hurdles. Norton ran a nearly 2.5-second PR of 57.51 to put up the third-fastest time in program history, while Bates was on pace to go sub-58 seconds before hitting the last hurdle. He finished in 58.37, which was a PR of .77 seconds.
"I was really impressed with both Robert and Alex. They've both made huge strides in the past couple of weeks," Vicker said. "Robert has only run the 400 hurdles three times, so he's still learning how to run the race. He went out and crushed his heat, running that time by himself. Alex is poised for another big PR at regionals this week. He's taken 2 seconds off over our past couple of meets."
Venteicher started Friday's events at the Kip Janvrin Open with a big PR in the hammer throw to qualify for nationals in that event. She came into the weekend with a PR of 39.88 meters, but launched a throw of 43.56 meters (142 feet, 11 inches) to surpass the qualifying mark of 42.88 meters. Later in the day, she threw 1 cm farther than the national qualifying mark in the javelin, posting a win in the event at 36.23 meters. One day later at the Drake Relays, she improved yet again in the javelin, finishing 15th with a throw of 36.47 meters (119-8).
"Molly had been so close to both of those qualifying marks all season," Vicker said. "She'd hit the marks in warmups, or throw right at the mark but out of the sector. So it was great to see her finally hit those marks in competition. I know she had to feel relieved to finally get it done in competition."
Teammate Bri Osterson finished 17th in the Drake Relays javelin competition with a throw of 33.41 meters (109-7).
The Spartan men competed in two relay events at the Drake Relays on Friday, with the 4x100 running in the morning and the sprint medley relay in the evening. The 4x100 relay team of Devon Marshall, Justin Cunningham, Ben Olson, and Norton finished 20th in the college division with a time of 42.53. The sprint medley relay team of Cunningham, Norton, Olson, and Oates finished 16th with a time of 3:39.27, the best mark in program history.
Cunningham and Norton put the Spartans in great position through the first two legs of the relay, both running blistering 200-meter splits. Cunningham split a 20.35 and Norton split a 22.11.
On Saturday afternoon, sophomore Conrad Schroeder competed in the men's javelin competition at the Drake Relays, finishing 13th with a best mark of 45.46 meters (149-2).
"Overall it was great for our athletes to get the opportunity to compete at one of the most prestigious track & field meets in the country. It was a great experience for them, especially as we prepare for regionals and nationals," Vicker said. "Conrad had some bad luck in the javelin with the weather turning south right before he began throwing, but I thought he still threw really well. He's been nursing an elbow injury, and still had a good day."
Other highlights from Friday's Kip Janvrin Open included freshman Gage Godsey running a nearly 3-second PR in the 400 meter dash of 51.51 seconds, Michael Mayer running a 4-second PR in the 800 (2:06.62), and Grace Massier running PRs in the 200 meters (27.76 seconds), the 100 hurdles (19.45 seconds), and a 15-second PR in the 800 meters of 2:43.49.
Southwestern returns to action this weekend with the Region 11 Championships, hosted by Iowa Western. The multis start Friday afternoon and conclude on Saturday, with the rest of the meet schedule starting Saturday afternoon.
