COUNCIL BLUFFS - The Southwestern track & field team broke two more school records at this past weekend's Region 11 Outdoor Championships, hosted by Iowa Western Community College.
Overall, the Spartan men finished sixth out of eight teams with 32 points and the women finished seventh out of eight teams with 16 points.
The Spartan relay team of Dillon Starlin, Brandon Briley, Jacob Driskill, and Cam Swapsy broke the school record in the 4x800 relay Saturday evening. The previous record of 8:08.12 was set in 2019 by Phil Selmer, Eric Portis, Evan Ouverson, and Alex Vandor. This year's Spartan squad broke the record by 8 full seconds, running 8:00.12 to finish fourth in one of the most entertaining races of the weekend. The Spartans spent much of the race in fifth place, battling back to join a tight pack that included Iowa Western, Iowa Central, DMACC, and Southeastern with just one lap to go.
The same quartet ran 8:16.45 just two weeks previously at the Kansas Relays. All four runners improved their splits from that race, but the highlight came from Driskill's 7-second season-best 800 to keep the Spartans within striking distance of the lead pack of four teams.
"I'm so proud of Jacob for the way he battled to run his 2:04 split," said Scott Vicker, director of cross country/track & field. "He stepped up big time in the clutch Saturday evening. The 800 is a completely different race than we've been training him for, but he has filled in valiantly while Zach Roome has been working his way back from injury. He was the key to the team's performance Saturday."
Southwestern's other school record came from sophomore Ross Stephens of Pleasantville. Stephens broke the school record in the pole vault on back-to-back days, first in the decathlon on Saturday and then in the open pole vault competition on Sunday. Entering the weekend, Stephens' personal best clearance was 2.95 meters (9 feet, 8 inches). In Saturday's decathlon pole vault, he cleared 3.10 meters. On Sunday, he shattered the record again, clearing 3.30 meters (10 feet, 10 inches) to finish fifth. The previous record belonged to Jonathon Hackett, who cleared 3.05 meters (10 feet) in 2023.
Stephens also finished fifth in the decathlon with 4,658 points and was part of Southwestern's fifth-place 4x100 relay team that also included Zach Thornburg, Peyton Embree, and Tucker Knox.
"Ross has spent a lot of time learning pole vault and getting better over his two years here at SWCC," Vicker said. "He deserved this school record with as much time as he has spent working on it. To see him have a big breakthrough in his final pole vault competition, and on tired legs from completing the decathlon over the previous two days, was really exciting. I think he will continue to improve as he pursues the vault at the next level."
Sophomore Jedd Weinkoetz of Panora had the highest placing for the Spartans with a third-place finish for honorable mention all-region in the javelin competition. Embree finished fifth with a new PR throw of 45.62 meters.
Other point scorers for the Spartan men included Driskill in the 5,000 meters with his best race of the outdoor season and the 4x400 relay team of Briley, Starlin, Thornburg, and Swapsy.
For the Spartan women, sophomore Abbi Richter concluded her career with a PR and fourth-place finish in the hammer throw at 37.17 meters (121 feet, 11 inches). She finishes her career second on SWCC's all-time list in the event. She also finished sixth in the javelin. Teammate Kara-Jean Staton finished eighth in the javelin with a PR throw of 23.02 meters, and also took sixth in the hammer throw and sixth in the discus.
"Going into the meet, I thought we'd fall somewhere between 18 and 25 points on the men's side," said Vicker. "So scoring 32 points was great for us. The guys really stepped up and found ways to move up in the standings to score more points than I projected. And our two-person women's team scoring 16 points was impressive, as well. I thought it was a great way for us to conlude our season with the full squad."
All in all, the Spartans set 17 personal bests over the weekend. Southwestern will next compete in the NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 15-17 in Hutchinson, Kansas. The 4x800 relay team has qualified for the championships and currently ranks 17th in the country.
