WICHITA, KS – After a couple weekends filled with impressive performances in the sprints, the Indian Hills distance running unit took its turn to shine at Saturday's Wichita State Open, hosted by Wichita State at Cessna Stadium.
Windy conditions prevailed for much of the meet, but as evening approached, the winds calmed in time for some impressive outings among the IHCC distance specialists.
Ethan Mesenbrink qualified for the NJCAA National Meet in the 10,000 meter race with a time of 32:44.55 and teammates Nick O'Connor and Isaac Bryant logged top five IHCC all-time clockings in the 5,000 meter event, running 15:26.50 and 16:04.06, respectively.
"Our distance runners really took advantage of their opportunity this weekend, said IHCC Head Coach Brent Ewing. "The wind died down after sunset and it really turned into prime running weather."
Ethan Mesenbrink qualified for the NJCAA National Meet in the 10,000 meter race with a time of 32:44.55 and teammates Nick O'Connor and Isaac Bryant logged top five IHCC all-time clockings in the 5,000 meter event, running 15:26.50 and 16:04.06, respectively.
"Ethan Mesenbrink and Nick O'Connor's performances really stood out to me," Ewing added. "This was Ethan's first 10k and he really made the most of it. Ethan is a model student-athlete and I couldn't be happier for him. Nick continues to show his range. His ability to run quality races from the 800 meters to the 5,000 meters on the track is uncommon. He's just a tough-minded competitor."
Ewing noted a couple of field event performers as ones that highlighted the Warriors' effort at Cessna. Former Davis County prep Jaxson Sharp launched the javelin 46.46, while J.C. Ramirez lept 13.64 meters in the triple jump, which was second-best all-time at IHCC.
"J.C. and Jaxson had break out meets," Ewing said. "Jaxson is inching closer and closer to the national qualifying mark in the javelin, and J.C. really stepped up, jumping from the 42' triple jump board. This was something he hadn't done yet this year and he didn't back down at all."
The Warriors' strength all season has been in the short sprints, and while it wasn't the banner performance that IHCC had put up the past two meets, there were some notable finishes.
"It definitely wasn't the dominating performances that we had seen in week's past," Ewing admitted. "Having back to back to back weekends of competing at that high of a level is very hard. Especially taking seven to eight hour trips each weekend."
Former EBF standout, Kalen Walker lowered his personal best in the 100 meters to 10.60 seconds to make the NJCAA qualifying standard, making him the fourth Warrior to do so this season. Isiah Thomas chipped away at his personal best in the 100, finishing in 10.52 seconds, and Travon Chance added a 10.64 second finish in his season opener in the event.
"Travon is very talented, but he's been battling some injuries. I think he really surprised himself this weekend," Ewing said.
IHCC sprint teammates Justin Walden and Marshaun Cook also laid down personal best 100-meter times of 10.63 and 10.71, respectfully.
"We now have ten guys between that have run the 100 between 10.45 and 10.76 seconds," Ewing said. "I'm not sure any team in the country has that type of depth."
Ewing also noted that the Warriors were able to pull off a rare sweep in the 400-meter event as Kendrick Winfield (48.33), Nathan Simons (48.55) and Elijah Berry (49.71) took gold, silver and bronze in the quarter-mile race.
"Taking the top three spots in a meet this big is no small feat," Ewing added. "Winfield and Simons both had personal bests despite some windy conditions. We were hoping to get a few athletes to hit the national qualifying standard of 48.32 but fell just short. Elijah Berry has already qualified for nationals in the 400 meters. I'm confident we will see Walden, Winfield and Simons hit the qualifying time in the next few meets."
The Warriors plan on making a return trip to Wichita this upcoming weekend as they are scheduled to take part in the K.T. Woodman Classic on Saturday. Ewing notes that only a partial squad will be making the trek.
"We plan to rest the majority of our athletes this upcoming weekend," Ewing said. "I anticipate that only distance runners will be attending."
WICHITA STATE OPEN STAT BOOK
National qualifiers:
Ethan Mesenbrink - 10k (32:44.55)
Kalen Walker - 100m (10.60)
School record:
Justin Swann - 800m (1:53.89)
Top-Five all-time IHCC performances:
Jaxson Sharp - Javelin (46.46m)
J.C. Ramirez - triple jump (13.64m)
Ethan Mesenbrink - 10k (32:44.55)
Nick O'Connor - 5k (15:26.50)
Isaac Bryant - 5k (16:04.06)
Justin Swann - 800m (1:53.89)
Kendrick Winfield - 400m (48.33)
Nathan Simons - 400m (48.55)
Isiah Thomas - 100m (10.52)
Other notable performances:
Justin Walden - 100m (10.63)
Travon Chance - 100m (10.64)
Marshaun Cook - 100m (10.71)
Elijah Berry - 200m (21.77), 400m (48.71)
Corrion Matthews - 200m (22.55)
Jerry Harper - 800m (1:59.54)
Chris Metz - 5k (16:26.07)
Colton Glosser - 5k (16:27.20)
Rylan Seberg - long jump (6.38m)
Complete results: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/68292/Wichita_State_Open/