COUNCIL BLUFFS - Southwestern sophomore Chase Oates highlighted an impressive team performance for the Spartans last weekend at the Region 11 Outdoor Championships by winning the Region 11 championship in the men's steeplechase.
The win capped a tough double for Oates, who shattered the Southwestern school record in the 10,000 meters just 16 hours prior. Oates clocked a 9:37.59 Sunday morning in the 3,000 meter steeplechase to pull off the upset victory. Iowa Western's Flynn Pumpa, who had run 14 seconds faster than Oates this season, finished runner-up, 1.7 seconds back of Oates. Victor Kemboi of Iowa Western, the son of one of the best steeplechase runners in world history, finished 4.4 seconds back of Oates in third place.
Confusion with the lap counter left the runners unsure of how many laps were left in the race, but Oates and Pumpa broke away from a pack of four with just over 400 meters to go, with Oates surging to the lead with 350 meters left in the race. Oates was able to hold off a charge from Pumpa down the backstretch and pulled away over the final water jump. The Spartan sophomore is believed to be just the third individual regional champion in men's track & field program history.
"Chase ran smart and took advantage at the right point in the race. Even though he thought he still had another lap to go, I'm glad he took the lead when he did," said Scott Vicker, director of cross country/track & field. "Coming back and running that well that soon after his 10K was an outstanding performance. I could not have asked for anything more out of Chase. He performed lights out in his two races. This should give him all the confidence in the world going into nationals."
Oates smashed Chance Webster's 2018 school record in the 10K Saturday night, running 74 seconds faster than the record. Oates crossed the finish line in third place with a time of 33:04.08, behind Iowa Western's duo of Geofrey Ronoh and Barnabas Ndiwa. Oates ran 17:03 for the first 5,000 meters of the race before closing in 16:00 over the final 5,000 meters to charge from last place to third place. It was the first time Oates had ever attempted the 10,000 meters.
Sophomore Jonathon Hackett closed out his Spartan career with a gritty performance in the men's decathlon. After being limited by a knee injury for the past month that kept him out of competitions and practices, Hackett finished second in the two-day decathlon with a score of 5076 points. Hackett steadily climbed up the standings throughout the event.
"I was just hopeful Hackett would be able to finish the decathlon and score us a couple of team points," Vicker said. "For him to grind out a runner-up finish after barely being able to practice for the past month was a perfect example of the type of athlete he is. He is so mentally tough and will battle until he physically can't. I'm so proud of him for his effort, and thankful for everything he's done for this program over these two years."
Freshman Jedd Weinkoetz shot his way up to second on the program's all-time list in the javelin throw when he launched a throw of 45.91 meters on his last attempt in finals. Weinkoetz finished fourth in the event, while freshman Ross Stephens took seventh with a PR throw of 40.40 meters. Stephens also claimed the last qualifying spot to finals in the 110 meter hurdles, and then moved up to sixth in finals with a PR run of 15.99 seconds.
The group of Sam Foreman, Weinkoetz, Emmet Long, and Oates ran the 4x800 on Saturday to gain a valuable three team points. The men's team battled all weekend to get points where it could, finishing sixth with 44 points.
"As we got into Sunday and we kept scoring more points than anticipated, the guys really started to believe," Vicker said. "There was zero reason we should have ever been thinking about a fifth-place finish, yet we were able to put ourselves in a position to potentially get there late Sunday. In the end, our lack of depth finally showed in the final few events, and we came up short of NIACC for fifth. But it made for an exciting day with the guys believing and fighting for every last point we could get. I'm proud of them for the way they bought in and went for it."
For the Spartan women, Malori Leonard and Abbi Richter combined to score 12 points for the Spartans. Leonard and Richter both scored points in each the discus throw and the javelin. They both posted big PRs in the discus, with Leonard throwing 31.98 meters and Richter throwing 31.76 meters. Richter also had a PR throw in the javelin at 27.09 meters.
Southwestern concludes its season next week at the NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Monroe, Louisiana.
