Men's Track & Field

WARRIORS SHINE AT BEARCAT OPEN

WARRIORS SHINE AT BEARCAT OPEN
Posted: Feb 08, 2022

Maryville, MO – The No. 4 team in the nation made a statement over the weekend as the Indian Hills Men's Track & Field team set three school records on its way to an impressive showing against four-year competition at the Bearcat Open hosted by Northwest Missouri State University.

"This was a true team effort," stated head coach Brent Ewing. "These types of results come when everyone focuses on executing their plan and doing their job. The level that our guys are competing at is astonishing. If you would have told me six years ago when I got to Indian Hills that we would have this many guys competing at such a high level, I'm not sure I would have been able to believe it. As a coach, I'm living my dream right now."

A force throughout the early stages of the indoor season, Rivaldo Marshall (Kingston, Jamaica/Calabar) continued his ascent towards the top of the Indian Hills record books with another school record. Marshall set the new program mark in the 600-yard run with a time of 1:10.64 to win the event. Marshall has now won every event he has competed in this year to go along with three school records.

Damoy Allen (Utica, NY/Utica Proctor) set the new Indian Hills record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.71. Allen dropped .17 from the preliminary round to set the new school record to place second overall, finishing ahead of teammate Isiah Thomas (Milwaukee, WI / Destiny) who finished with a mark of 6.77.

"Damoy Allen reminded everyone that he's one of the best sprinters in the nation," Ewing stated. "Damoy had been struggling with a few things early in the season. We all knew it was just a matter of time before he broke out in a very big way. He did just that, breaking our 60-meter school record and running the third fastest 200-meter in program history. Damoy is like a freight train - when he picks up momentum, there's really no stopping him."

"Isiah Thomas has now improved his 60-meter mark every single meet this year," Ewing added. "Breaking the 6.8 barrier was something we have been talking about for a long time. Seeing him go out there any make it happen this weekend really made my day."

On the distance side, sophomore Nick O'Connor (Tiffin, IA/Clear Creek Amana) broke the school record in the 3,000-meter event with a time of 8:49.58. O'Connor also posted the third-fastest 1,000-meter time in school history at 2:28.77.

"Nick led the way for the distance," Ewing added. "He has really shown his versatility. He is the most versatile distance athlete our program has ever seen."

J.C. Ramirez (Odessa, TX/Odessa) and Chris Sizemore (Speedwell, VA/Rural Retreat) stood out for the Warrior jumpers. Ramirez posted a mark of 14.21-meters in the triple jump while Sizemore jumped 6.84-meters in the long jump.

Ewing commended both of the jumpers for their efforts. "J.C. Ramirez had an incredible meet. He works his butt off and is starting to put together some extremely impressive jumps. Chris Sizemore also stepped up and record a top-five all-time IHCC mark in the long jump. It's pretty incredible what he's accomplished."

Other Warrior sprinters who performed with exceptional marks over the weekend include Aurel Tchanbi (Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire/College Heleis) who posted the second-fastest 200-meter dash time in school history, placing first in the event with a time of 21.34. Khalid Hornsby (Greenbelt, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt) posted personal best times in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash.

Isaac Bryant (Grinnell, IA/Grinnell-Newburg) and Chris Metz (Freeport, IL/Freeport) posted the third and fourth-fastest 5,000-meter times in program history for the Warriors.

The Warriors now own 25 top-20 NJCAA marks on the year.

Indian Hills is off to the Gorilla Classic Feb. 11-12 in Pittsburg, KS at the Robert W. Plaster Center, home to the 2022 NJCAA Indoor National Championships set for March 4-5.