Topeka, KS –- The defending national champions opened the 2024-25 campaign with an impressive showing on Saturday as the Indian Hills Men's Track & Field squad kicked off the new indoor season at the Washburn Alumni Invitational.
Indian Hills brought home seven first-place finishes – six individual honors alongside a relay title to pace the Warriors in the season opener. The Warriors saw a number of returning sophomores from last year's national championship post dominant performances to coincide with strong showings from a talented group of newcomers.
Triston Miller (Columbus Junction, IA/Columbus Junction), a four-time All-American as a freshman, took home top honors in the men's 60-meter hurdle event with a mark of 7.90, just 0.04 off of his school record. As a team, the Warriors took home four of the top-six places as Harry Momolu (Blackwood, NJ/Fork Union Military Academy) placed third overall with a mark of 8.21.
Sophomores Nichalas Power (Riverton City, Jamaica) and Cayde de Waal (Brakpan, South Africa/Hoërskool Oosterlig) starred in the men's 1,000-meter run as both individuals eclipsed the meet record to finish first and second, respectively. Power posted a time of 2:27.03 followed by de Waal's mark of 2:27.20 to break former Indian Hills All-American Rivaldo Marshall's previous meet record. Both Power and de Waal placed more than nine seconds ahead of the third-place finisher.
Freshman Raynier Galvez (Paterson, NJ/Passaic County) produced a remarkable effort in the men's 600-yard run to take the top spot for the Warriors. Galvez placed first overall with a mark of 1:09.58, the seventh-fasted time in National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) history and third-best mark in program history. Teammate Jaquan Coke (Kingston, Jamaica/Kingston College) placed second overall with a time of 1:13.35 followed by Ainsley Brown's (Portland, Jamaica) third-place showing at 1:13.59. Paul Glon (Aveze, France/Lycée polyvalent Le Mans sud) rounded out the top-five with a fifth-place showing at 1:14.00.
RAYNIER GALVEZ ��
— Indian Hills XC/TF (@IHCCrunning) December 7, 2024
1:09.58 600y season opener, winning by nearly 4 seconds.
That's #7 in @NJCAA history!
Warriors now claim #5, #7 and #12 All-Time pic.twitter.com/rhEFsFvSDe
The Indian Hills throws program continued to make impressive strides as newcomer Kaden Banks (Onalaska, WI/Holmen) took top honors in the men's shot put. Banks placed first overall with a mark of 16.35 meters while returning All-American Tate Joens (Cedar Rapids, IA/Cedar Rapids Prairie) placed second overall with a distance of 16.15 meters.
In the men's weight throw, sophomore Michael Etuma (Iowa City, IA/Iowa City) tossed a personal best mark of 18.40 meters to surpass the previous meet record and place third overall. Joens took home a fourth-place showing with a mark of 17.61 meters as the sophomore duo each hit national qualifying marks.
Freshman Damor Miller (Kingston, Jamiaca) cruised to a first-place finish in the men's 60-meter dash with the second-fastest time in school history at 6.68. Fellow freshman Domictress Robinson (Jacksonville, FL/Jean Ribault) took home sixth-place overall at 6.77.
Indian Hills secured three of the top six spots in the men's 200-meter dash as Robinson earned a third-place showing with a mark of 21.26. Izaiah Loveless (Iowa City, IA/Iowa City West) placed fifth overall followed by Justin Gray's (Memphis, TN/Southwind) sixth-place showing.
The Warriors saw three relay squads placed inside the top-six in the men's 4x400-meter relay event. The quartet of Gray, Galvez, Glon, and Coke took home top honors with a mark of 3:13.69.
Along with Miller's first-place showing in the men's 60mH, the sophomore placed third overall in the men's high jump with a mark of 2.05, just .01 off his personal best, to hit a national qualifying mark.
The Warriors close out the 2024 calendar year next weekend with the two-day Iowa State Holiday Invite in Ames, IA on Friday and Saturday.
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