Cowley Press

Using their training as a strength the men’s track and field team qualified not only for nationals, but broke school records too. The men have been working on improving their strength and their turnover rate.

According to Assistant Track and Field Coach Vince Degrado the turnover rate is how fast it takes your legs to make a full rotation. The men competed in the Southwestern Relay Invite held on April 24 at the Cowley College Track since the Southwestern field was under construction.

Cowley fared well at the meet stacking up against the competition including: Southwestern College, West Texas A&M, Oklahoma Christian University, Tabor College, Friends University, Allen County, Butler Community College, Coffeyville, Dodge City, Neosho County, Oklahoma Baptist University, University of Missouri at Kansas City, and Southern Nazarene University. 

Highlights of the event include sophomore Jory Custar winning the 800 meter run with a time of 1:52.42.

“It was an honor to win what was called ‘the most exciting race of the meet.’”said Custar. “I also got my first collegiate medal and it just happened to be gold.”

The time broke the school record of 1:52.97 set back in 2003 by Marcelo Dunning and qualified him for nationals.

The long distance runners from the team placed in the top positions. Sophomore Dustin Mettler, qualified for both the 1500 meter run and the 5000 meter run.

“It felt great winning,” said Mettler. “I’m glad I got to [win] on our home track.”

The men swept the board in the 5000 meter run with Mettler placing first along with sophomores Phillip Banowetz, Isbek Salinas and T.J. Mapp placing just right behind him.

“The 5000 meter was a race where there were no expectations except hit certain lap splits and then last mile don’t let anybody beat you,” said Degrado. “As hard as I work them I expect them to be ready to run fast and just compete.”

Overall the men’s team managed to break through and get some more people into the national meet which will be held at Hutchinson Community College during May 20-22.  

“Over all we had a very good meet and some wonderful performances,” said Head Track and Field Coach Mark Phillips. “We felt very good about it because the Region VI / Jayhawk Conference Championship meet is next week at Johnson and we really think we are ready for a good meet.

The women experienced similar success in their meet. With the gunshot heard in the air Freshman Richelle Farly headed toward the finish line in the 100 meters hurdles. She ran as fast as she could to the finish line with a time of 14.61. The time qualified her for not only nationals but also broke the old record of 15.65 was set by Neisha Peterson 2007.

”I felt really good,” said Farly. “It was my first clean race for the season and I qualified for nationals so I was pleased with my performance.”

According to Head Coach Mark Phillips this is the third record that Farly has broken in the hurdles.  This was just a small feat in what was to become a starting block for the Women’s field and track team.

This meet was no exception to the rule as many of the women made it to the national mark or even broke school records. The other field events included the pole vault where sophomore Katie Gillmore placed first with a jump of 3.7 meters and freshman Allison Hoover placed fifth with a jump of 3.2 meters.

“The Southwestern invite went very well for me,” said Hoover. “I was not sure how well I would do because my foot has been injured, but I worked through and pulled out a personal best for the year.”

The women did exceedingly well in the running events including the 4×800 meter relay. Sophomore Marvia Lewin placed first in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:15.76.

In the longer running events sophomore Robin Ray placed first in both the 1500 meter run and the 5000 meter run.

“It felt amazing to be back out on the track competing and running with other girls,” said Ray. “It was really exciting to win the two events.”

With most of the women making it to the national mark the team looks prepared for the upcoming meets. The next meet on the schedule is Region VI/Jayhawk Conference meet in Overland Park May 6-8.

Between now and Regionals the Tigers competed at the Dean Pryor Invitational held at Coffeyville, Kan. “A very small contigent of the Tiger Track and Field teams made the trek to Coffeyville on Saturday for the 2010 Coffeyville Dean Pryor Invitational,” said Phillips.

Phillips also said that national qualifying marks were hit by Gillmore, sophomore Mark Butler and freshman Michael McLeod.