NORTH NEWTON, KS – The No. 7-rated Indian Hills Men's Track & Field squad made quite a statement Saturday, topping an 18-team field at the Loren Reusser Invitational, hosted by Bethel College.
The talented Warriors chose to not carry a full squad to the meet, opting to let their middle distance and distance athletes stay home instead of competing in back-to-back weekends, yet IHCC still held enough fire-power to outdistance the field.
"This was without a doubt one of the best meets I have seen in my time at Indian Hills," beamed IHCC Head Coach Brent Ewing. "I was very impressed that we were be able to win the meet without having all our groups here."
Despite the win, the meet got off to an ominous beginning as the Warriors had loaded up the 4x100 relay in hopes of laying down another impressive time. IHCC would be unable to finish the event, however, as a dropped baton ended the race early for the foursome.
"I could tell the guys were very upset about that," Ewing said. "We had been focusing on the 4x100 the entire week. Our guys showed a lot of maturity by being able to refocus and make a statement in their open events."
The 200-meter distance is shaping up to be the strength of this Warrior squad thus far this season as Ewing has himself a stable of sprinters worthy of NJCAA all-American status. And if he didn't have enough already, Ewing can add another to the list as freshman Kendrick Winfield made a splash in his first meet of the year.
Winfield dropped his personal best in the 200 meters from 21.76 to 21.16 a fact that didn't go unnoticed by his coach.
"Seeing Kendrick open up like that was incredible," Ewing explained. "Then he doubled back in the 4x400 relay and ran a 46.3 second anchor leg split. It's always a good feeling when you can end the meet on a good note. I challenged the 4x4 to go lay down a fast time. I definitely didn't expect it to be that fast."
The 4x400 quartet of Justin Walden, Damoy Allen, Nathan Simons, and Winfield crossed the tape at 3:10.76, nearly four seconds ahead of the previous IHCC record for the event, and finished over six seconds ahead of the field in North Newton. The unit's clocking places them currently as the fourth fastest 4x400 in the entire NJCAA.
Ewing had noted after the season-opening outdoor event a week ago at Emporia State that his quarter milers had some race strategy work to put in, and from the results on Saturday, it looks like the homework paid off.
"Justin Walden moved up in distance this weekend to run the 400 meters," said Ewing. "His personal best going into the meet was 50.16. He shocked himself by finishing in 48.37. Zack Nelson and Dorian Craven also had significant season's bests in the 400. We talked all week about how to run the race properly, and the guys did a fantastic job of executing their race plans and subsequently saw big time drops."
Short sprint specialist Aurel Tchanbi continues to blister the track in his freshman campaign as he darted to the second fastest 100 meter time in IHCC history, trailing only the legendary Kenny Bednarek.
"Aurel is a staple for our sprints crew," Ewing added. "He has been a great leader for our guys, on and off the track, and we're very fortunate to have him at Indian Hills."
Hurdle specialist Chris Hudnall also nestled himself into the No. 2 all-time IHCC slot in a pair events as he ran 14.94 seconds in the 110 meter event and grinded out a 56.23 time in the 400 meter hurdles.
"Not only did Chris etch himself into the IHCC record books, but I expect his times to continue to drop this spring," Ewing said.
Illinois product, Jerry Harper tried his hand in the half-mile for the first time this year and dropped three seconds off his personal best in running 1:58.29. His race tactics impressed his head coach.
"I loved to see his aggressiveness," Ewing noted. "Jerry doesn't back down. He has a ber bright future in the 800."
Isiah Thomas, Ashton Sanders and Kalen Walker all joined Winfield as NJCAA National Meet qualifiers in the 200 Saturday. Thomas also saw a major drop in her personal best running a 21.15 when his previous best performance was 21.79. The quartet of 200 qualifiers brings the total Warriors to make the NJCAA qualifying mark to six.
"In my opinion, the 200 meter qualifying time is the hardest mark to hit at 21.36 seconds," Ewing explained. "If you would have told me that we would have six guys qualified for that event at the end of the year, I would have said no way. The fact that we have six guys qualified two meets into the season says a lot about our group. These are some of the most competitive young men I have ever seen and they all rejoice in each other's success. That is what makes this team so special.
Indian Hills will be back on the track this weekend in Wichita, Kansas as the Warriors compete in the Wichita State Open on Saturday, April 10 at Cessna Stadium in Wichita, Kansas.
LOREN REUSSER INVITATIONAL
North Newton, Kansas
TEAM STANDINGS
1 Indian Hills 88
2 Butler 81
3 Tabor 74
4 Cowley College 69
5 McPherson 67
6 Hutchinson 64
7 Coffeyville 60
8 Bethel (KS) 58
9 Friends 29
10 Bethany (KS) 24
11 Kansas Wesleyan 18
12 Oklahoma City 10
12 KC Smoke Club 10
14 Langston 7
15 UNAT-Butler 6
16 Southwestern (KS) 5
16 Beri Bour Runners 5
18 Neosho County 1
WARRIOR RESULTS
8 top 5 all-time individual performances
1 school record
4x400 relay: Justin Walden, Damoy Allen, Nathan Simons, Kendrick Winfield, 3:10.76
5 NJCAA National Qualifiers:
Aurel Tchanbi, 100m (10.46)
Isiah Thomas, 200m (21.15)
Kendrick Winfield, 200m (21.16)
Ashton Sanders, 200m (21.32)
Kalen Walker, 200m (21.34)
Additional Notable Performances
Jerry Harper, 800m (1:58.29)
Kendrick Winfield, 100m (10.72)
Nathan Simons, 200m (21.63)
Zack Nelson, 200m (21.84), 400m (48.99)
Dorian Craven, 200m (21.13), 400m (49.35)
Justin Walden, 400m (48.37)
Corrion Matthews, 400m (51.11)
Chris Hudnall, 110h (14.94), 400h (56.23)
J.C. Ramirez, long jump (6.23m)
Rob Meredith, triple jump (12.93m)
Jaxson Sharp, javelin (43.11m)
https://www.tfrrs.org/results/68586/Bethel_College_Loren_Reusser_Invitational/