Storm Lake, Iowa -- Indian Hills athletes posted four school records, had three region champs and four runnersup in the Region XI Indoor Championships at the Lamberti Recreation Center on the Buena Vista University campus over the weekend.
One of the school records came from Kendal Banks-Price who jumped 6'9.75" in the high jump, good for 2nd place. Chris Hudnall broke the school mark in the 60 meter hurdles, running 8.23. Elijah Berry's 600 meter time of 1:20.81 was the fastest ever at Indian Hills. And the 4x800 relay team of Micha Reed, Berry, Kohner Butts and Aytonn Bar-Shimon clocked 8:01.65 to establish another school record.
The region first-place winners were Tracy Gates in the triple jump (48'1.25"), Berry in the 600 meters (1:20.81) and the 4x800 relay unit.
Second-places came from Hudnall in the 60 meter hurdles, Banks-Price in the high jump, Butts in the 600 meters (1:21.04), and the 4x400 team.
Tyler Dunigan had a third-team all-region time of 6.83 in the 60 meters.
Some of the other notable performances were turned in by Gates in the long jump (22'9.25"), the 3rd longest leap in school history; the shot put tandem of Kase Hitt (42'2.25" for 7th place) and Hunter Rodibaugh (41'.05" for 8th), the 4th- and 5th-best throws ever; Bar-Shimon (1:59.63) for 4th-best in the 800 meters; Ethan Mesenbrink ran the 5th-best 5000 meters (16:31.81); Zach White (9:08.47 for 5th), Zach Schocker (9:17.15 for 6th) and Conner Riley (9:19.42 for 8th) in the 3000 meters; Schocker's lifetime best of 4:42.51 for 7th in the mile; Floyd Pond took 6th in the 60 meter finals in 6.95; Herman Chongwain was 7th in the 200 meters in 22.69; Torian Kingston (51.28 for 6th) and Nathan Simons (51.39 for 7th) in the 400 meters; and Rancy Freeman ran 7.08 in the prelims of the 60 meters for his personal best by .18 seconds.
Also for the Warriors, Chongwain (7.04), Dichon Francis (7.13), Marshaun Cook (7.14), Brandon Snowden (7.24), Mechai White (7.27) and Judah Cocco (7.58) all ran in the 60 meters; Dunigan was 8th in the 200 in 22.70, with Cook (22.94), Pond (23.00), Hudnall (23.01), Tj Thomas (23.09), Jadon Tirado (23.12) and Mechai White (23.77) also competing in the event; Tahzmere Givens (52.81), Carlon Steward (53.48), Snowden (53.79), and Keyon Evans (56.81) all in the 400 meters; Elijah Boesch finished the 600 meters in 1:29.44; Cade Curphy ran 4:55.51 in the mile run; Seth Kilborn (18:12.67) in the 5000 meters; Kaleb Schneider (9.18 for 5th) in the 60 meter hurdles; the distance medley relay team of Mesenbrink, Givens, Boesch and Kilborn was 4th; Jaxson Sharp jumped 6 feet even for 3rd place in the high jump; Jasean White was 7th in the long jump (22'5.25"); and Nicholas Fitzpatrick threw the shot 40'8.75".
"Our men went into the meet with the goal of finishing second," said IHCC head coach Brent Ewing, "which we had never accomplished before. With only five teams competing and the top six earning points, we knew this was going to be tough. We ultimately fell short of our goal by 17 points, finishing with 95 points. Despite placing 3rd, we had some individuals who really stepped up. Our field events did a great job. Gates, Banks-Price, Hitt and Rodibaugh really came through. We had several distance athletes who ran very well also. Zach Schocker had two personal bests. Chris Hudnall, Elijah Berry, Kohner Butts and Tyler Dunigan continued their string of consistent performances. It's hard to be upset anytime you walk away from a meet with four school records. However, I think the consistent feeling from everyone on the team is that we want to do better. We've got two weeks now to sharpen up before the NJCAA indoor nationals at Liberty University Mar. 6-7."
The list of Indian Hills national championship qualifers includes Berry in the 400, 600 and 800; Butts and Berry in the 600 and 800; Bar-Shimon in the 800; Pond and Dunigan in the 60 meters; Gates in the triple jump; Banks-Price in the high jump; Hudnall in the 60 meter hurdles; and both the 4x400 and 4x800 relays.