PITTSBURG, KS – The Indian Hills men’s track and field program recorded its highest finish at the NJCAA Indoor Championships last weekend in Pittsburg, Kansas as the Warriors landed in ninth place overall, and had nine athletes collect All-American status.
The nine-place improvement over the previous year’s team finish would make one think that those associated with the program would be ecstatic with such an accomplishment.
But, if you ask Head Coach Brent Ewing, your assumptions about being satisfied would be incorrect.
“This year’s team really made a statement, and I think it shows the direction our program is heading,” Ewing said. “But, I’d be lying if I said I was content with our placing though. We didn’t have the fire power to score enough points to be in the top six, but seventh place was only eight points away.
“We had some really good things happen, but we also left some points out on the track. As a coach and an athlete, you’re always chasing perfection. Perfect mechanics, perfect race tactics, and perfect execution. I’m very proud of the way we competed, but I believe there’s an overwhelming feeling among the guys that we want more.”
The Warriors were led by newly crowned NJCAA Midwest Region Indoor Athlete of the Year, Jackson Burnett, who earned All-American honors in a pair of events. Burnett was fourth in the mile running 4:17.08, and finished runner-up in the 1,000 meters with a 2:29.35, which was just .05 seconds from winning the title.
“Finishing top four at the national meet in two different events is not an easy thing to do,” Ewing explained. “Jackson showed a lot of grit towards the end of each race. I think if he had another ten to fifteen meters in the 1k, he would have been able to pull out the victory. He will walk away from this weekend gaining a lot of experience and knowledge in terms of how to execute his races at the national meet. I know the goal was to win an individual national title indoors. Even though he fell short of that, he has shown a lot of growth since transferring to Indian Hills. I’m very proud of how he has represented our program.”
The Warriors’ Justin Swann took home bronze in the half mile event, running 1:53.07, which put him on the podium as an 800-meter All-American.
“Justin Swann ran a perfectly executed 800 final. He was aggressive early on and put himself in a position to be able to win,” Ewing said. “Our game plan was to have him sit on the two fastest guys and see if he could make a move at the end to win. Justin was in the race the entire time. When the leaders made a move, he countered it. He just didn’t quite have enough gas at the end. Justin can walk away knowing he left everything out on the track. That’s a great way to end a season. He also ran four seconds faster indoors than he did in high school. He has a lot of momentum going into outdoors.”
IHCC’s Aurel Tchanbi capped off a fantastic indoor season with by earning himself All-American honors by finishing seventh in the 200-meter sprint with a clocking of 21.59 seconds. Tchanbi also took home 10th in the 60 meter event with a 6.79.
Fellow Warrior sprinters Kalen Walker and Damoy Allen were right on Tchanbi’s heels in the 200 with Allen running 21.63 and Walker finishing at 21.84 in the preliminaries. Walker’s time netted him 14th place, and Allen looked to be qualified for the finals, until a rules violation struck down what would’ve been the seventh best time in the prelims.
“Tchanbi, Allen and Walker did a good job of representing our short sprints group,” Ewing added. “I liked seeing Tchanbi bounce back in the 200 after missing the finals in the 60, and Walker ran a season’s best in the 200, which should give him plenty of confidence heading into the outdoor season. Allen ran a very good 200 prelim, and finished with a personal best, but he took three consecutive steps on the inside lane. One minute I was congratulating him, and the next I was telling him he was disqualified. That was a tough pill to swallow, but he showed a lot of maturity in how he handled the situation.”
Quarter miler Nathan Simons just missed finishing in the top ten in the 400 meters as he took 11th place with a 48.73 timing. He also teamed with Zackary Nelson, Elijah Berry and Tchanbi in taking ninth in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:14.38, which set a new school record.
“Nathan had a personal best in the 400, and top five all-time performance in IHCC history,” said Ewing. “He followed that up with a 47.9 split in the 4x400. Nathan is a hard worker who isn’t afraid to hurt.”
Two relays collected All-American accolades for the Warriors as the distance medley team of Isaac Bryant, Nelson, Aytonn Bar-Shimon and Nick O’Connor netted sixth place with a 10:29.29 and the 4x800 quartet of Bar-Shimon, O’Connor, Dante Salomon and Jerry Harper came in seventh at 7:57.06.
Ewing pointed out the weekend efforts of Nelson and O’Connor.
“Zack had his two fastest 400-meter splits in both the medley and 4x4, and Nick surprised everyone with his 4:20 split in the 1600 meter leg in the medley, and 1:56 split in the 4x8. Those were two of the biggest performances of the weekend. Nick really brought his A game.”
IHCC is scheduled to begin its outdoor season on March 19 at the Emporia State University Spring Invitational in Emporia, Kansas.
WARRIOR RESULTS – MEN’S NJCAA INDOOR NATIONALS
Aurel Tchanbi: 200m (7th- 21.59, all-American), 60m (10th- 6.79)
Kalen Walker: 200m (14th- 21.84)
Damoy Allen: 60m (6.89, 17th), 200m (21.63, DQ’d for lane violation)
Justin Walden: 60m (6.90, 20th)
Nathan Simons: 400m (11th, 48.73)
Elijah Berry: 600m (9th, 1:22.39)
Justin Swann: 800m (3rd, 1:53.07, all-American)
Jackson Burnett: Mile (4th- 4:17.08, all-American) 1k (2nd, 2:29.35, all-American)
Chris Hudnall: 60h (10th, 8.24)
Men’s DMR: Isaac Bryant, Zackary Nelson, Aytonn Bar-Shimon, Nick O’connor, 6th (10:29.29, all-American)
Men’s 4x800m: Aytonn Bar-Shimon, Nick O’Connor, Dante Salomon, Jerry Harper, 7th (7:57.06, all-American)
Men’s 4x400m: Zackary Nelson, Elijah Berry, Nathan Simons, Aurel Tchanbi, 9th (3:14.38, new school record)
Results: https://www.tfrrs.org/results/67389/NJCAA_Indoor_Track_&_Field_Championships/