Men's Track & Field

WARRIORS PLACE 2ND, EARN FOUR TITLES AT EMPORIA

WARRIORS PLACE 2ND, EARN FOUR TITLES AT EMPORIA
Posted: Mar 27, 2023

Emporia, KS – 11 individuals helped rewrite the Indian Hills Men's Track & Field record books in an impressive showing in the outdoor season opener at the Emporia Relays. The Warriors placed second overall in the 21-team field.

With two school records and 11 all-time top-five Indian Hills performances to boast, the Warriors totaled 82 team points over the weekend, falling just two points shy of the team title which went to Missouri Southern University. Indian Hills posted 16 top-10 finishes, including nine top-five marks and four individual titles.

Freshman Chris Giles (Columbia, MO/Rock Bridge) highlighted the Warriors' outdoor opener with two dominant showings. Giles took home the 200-meter and 400-meter dash titles to score 20 team points for the Warriors. Giles opened the meet on day one with a national qualifying mark of 21.25 in the 200m before electrifying the crowd with a meet record of 46.24 in the 400m. Giles' time in the 400m, which now ranks second in school history only to Kenny Bednarek, broke a 26-year old meet record.

Sophomore Roneldo Rock (St. Joseph, Barbados/Grantley Adams Memorial) posted the fourth-fastest 800-meter run outdoor mark in school history to win the event on Saturday. Rock won the event by 0.73 seconds with a new personal best time.

Chris Sizemore (Speedwell, VA/Rural Retreat) took home top honors in the men's high jump on day one of the relays. Sizemore cleared a height of 1.90-meters on his first attempt to earn the first-place finish via tiebreaker. The mark is a new personal best for Sizemore and ranks fourth all-time in Indian Hills school history.

Sophomore Dean Clarke (Kingston, Jamaica/Calabar) etched his name atop the Indian Hills record books with a time of 52.81 in the 400-meter hurdles to place second overall for the Warriors. Clarke's time shattered the previous school mark by 1.50 seconds and leads to a national championship berth after eclipsing the qualifying time.

Clarke was joined by teammate Damien Lewis (College Station, TX/Brenham) who posted a time of 54.69 in the event to place seventh overall and hit a national qualifying mark in his first event of the outdoor season.

Troy Johnson (Lancaster, PA/J.P. McCaskey), the indoor school record holder in the men's long jump, placed himself atop the outdoor record books in his first meet of the year with a mark of 7.16 to place third overall for the Warriors. Johnson was the top junior college competitor in the event and currently ranks 12th in the nation.

Johnson was joined by teammate Isaiah Valentine (Mason City, IA/Ankeny Centennial) who placed 10th overall with a mark of 6.65-meters, the fifth-best distance in school history for the Warriors.

Along with Giles' performance in the 400m dash, teammates Chris Johnson (Houston, TX/Cypress Park) and Woyn Chatman (Little Rock, AR/Little Rock Central) helped the Warriors sweep the top-three spots on the podium. Johnson crossed the finish line in 47.00, fourth-fastest in school history while Chatman placed third overall at 47.29, No. 5 all-time in school history.

Freshman Mohammed Al-Yafaee (Doha, Qatar/Aspire Academy) posted the third-fastest time in school history in the men's 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:58.78 to place eighth overall.

Freshman Raphael Akinyemi (Iselu Ogun State, Nigeria/Eleanor Roosevelt) joined the Indian Hills record books with a fifth-place showing in the men's triple jump. Akinyemi's mark of 13.47-meters ranks third all-time in Indian Hills history.

CJ McFerrin (Alpharetta, GA/Alpharetta), the school record holder in the men's indoor 60-meter hurdle event, posted the third-fastest outdoor 110-meter hurdle time with a mark of 14.95. McFerrin's time was good enough for eighth place overall on Saturday.

Freshman Traunard Folson (Jacksonville, FL/Andrew Jackson) posted a time of 10.50 in the men's 100-meter event to place ninth overall to reach national qualifying status.

The men's 4x100-meter relay squad consisting of D'Eric Smith (Bridgeton, NJ/Ankeny Centennial), Khalid Hornsby (Greenbelt, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt), Nehemiah Ray (Chicago, IL/Brother Rice), and Folson hit a national qualifying mark with a time of 40.28 to place second overall at the meet. The mark is just 0.59 seconds off the school record performance set a year ago.

The Warriors will now head to the Friends University Invitational in Wichita, KS March 30 – April 1.