Iowa City, IA – The Indian Hills Men's Track & Field 4x400-meter relay squad put a stamp on an impressive weekend at a pair of events in the Hawkeye state for the Warriors. Indian Hills sent a barrage of student-athletes to the Cyclone Open in Ames, IA and the Larry Wieczorek Invitational in Iowa City, IA.
The men's 4x400 relay squad closed out the weekend with an impressive first-place finish with a time of 3:11.39, the fourth-fastest mark in the nation this year. The Warrior quartet of Chris Johnson (Houston, TX/Cypress Park), Jah'Vauni Wheeler (Atlanta, GA/Heritage), Xavier Thomas (Evansville, IN/FJ Reitz), and Terrick Johnson (Memphis, TN/Whitehaven) finished more than two seconds ahead of second-place Iowa and more than five seconds ahead of the third-place squad.
The Warriors saw three individual records fall over the span of the two days. On Friday at the Cyclone Open, Keveroy Venson (Linstead, Jamaica/Calabar) shattered the men's mile school record by more than eight seconds with a time of 4:05.87. Venson's time is currently the 10th fastest time in National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) history and ranks first among all competitors in 2024.
Indian Hills now has the NJCAA national leaders in every middle distance event (600y, 800m, 1k, mile) so far this season �� https://t.co/a7hBy87riW
— Indian Hills XC/TF (@IHCCrunning) January 19, 2024
Competing at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational, Tate Joens (Cedar Rapids, IA/Cedar Rapids Prairie) climbed the Indian Hills record books with a strong showing in the weight throw. Joens eclipsed his previous personal best by 1.5 meters with a mark of 16.44m to set the new Indian Hills standard while hitting a national qualifying mark.
Freshman Brandon Ford (Perth, Western Australia/Duncraig) added another school record to his remarkable freshman campaign, setting the new standard in the men's 3,000-meter race. Ford's time of 8:47.16 at the Cyclone Open broke the previous school record by more than two seconds.
Prior to Saturday's 4x400 victory, Chris Johnson took first-place honors in the men's 400-meter dash at Iowa State with a time of 47.22. Johnson edged Wheeler by 0.52 seconds as the duo set the fourth and fifth-fastest times in the event in school history, respectively. Johnson also added a second-place finish in the men's 200-meter dash with a national qualifying mark of 21.60.
Terrick Johnson captured the men's 800-meter title at the Cyclone Open with a time of 1:51.38, nearly 1.5 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher and the fourth-fastest time in school history.
Cole Reinders (Sarnia, Ontario/St. Patrick's Catholic) produced the third-fastest 1,000-meter run time in school history on Friday with a time of 2:25.97 to place fifth overall. The sophomore followed up on Saturday with the third-fastest mile in school history with a time of 4:18.53, the first time Reinders competed in the event.
Cyrus Ways (Ponte Vedra, FL/Nease) and Shuanlarry Lamarre (Brentwood, NY/Brentwood) added impressive marks in the 60-meter hurdle event, both breaking into the top-five in school history. Ways posted the second-best mark of all-time with a time of 7.96 while Lamarre set a new personal best time at 8.27, No. 5 in school history.
Teammates Troy Johnson (Lancaster, PA/J.P. McCaskey) and Anthony Ward (Madison, WI/Madison Memorial) both notched personal best marks of 14.12 meters in the men's triple jump, tied for the third-best mark in school history.
Following the team's dominant weekend on the track, the Warriors entered the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Regional Rankings as the top-ranked team in the Midwest while boasting the most team points among all junior colleges in the country. The USTFCCCA national team rankings will be released Wednesday afternoon.
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