Maryville, MO – Four different members of the Indian Hills Women's Track & Field team set school records at the Mel Tjeerdsma Classic at Northwest Missouri State University on Saturday as the Warriors opened up the 2021-22 indoor season.
The 60-meter hurdles proved to be a showcase event for the Warriors as two different individuals set new Indian Hills standards. Matayah Naylor (Johnston, IA/Johnston) dashed across the finish line with a time 8.95 in the preliminary round to set a school record, but teammate Peyton Steva (Iowa City, IA/Iowa City West) followed up in the finals with a time of 8.86, setting the new Warrior mark as well as breaking the meet record.
"Our female hurdlers impressed me the most," stated head coach Brent Ewing. "Matayah had the race of her life in the 60-meter hurdle prelims, breaking the school record and qualifying for nationals. Peyton bounced back and broke Matayah's school record in the finals and also qualified for nationals."
Kayla McCray (Miami, FL/North Miami) and Janyla Hoskins (Dubuque, IA/Dubuque Hempstead) put their efforts on full display in the 60-meter dash. McCray put together the top prelim mark with a school record 7.69 before taking home first place in the finals with a time of 7.69 to qualify for the national championship. Hoskins finished third overall with a time of 7.77.
McCray also placed fifth overall in the women's 200-meter dash with a time of 25.66.
"Kayla McCray had a huge meet," Ewing added. "In her first collegiate race and first competitive race in two years, she broke the 60-meter school record and qualified for nationals. She backed that up with the third-fastest 200-meter in school history."
Kaylen Pryor (Chicago, IL/South Shore International Prep) ran a 1:40.59 in the women's 600-meter run to break the school record, just narrowly missing the national qualifying mark. Ewing expressed his optimism in Pryor's future meets. "I'm confident she will hit the standard the next time she competes."
Siby Yao (Leesburg, VA/Riverside) stood out in the women's jumps, placing third overall in the triple jump with a mark of 11.22 meters and 12th overall in the long jump with a mark of 5.07 meters. Yao's mark in the triple jump was good enough to qualify for the national championship.
"We had several ladies not compete so I'm anxious to see what we can do in the upcoming meets with our full women's roster," Ewing exclaimed.
Indian Hills heads off to the Iowa State Holiday Invitational Dec. 10-11 in Ames, IA.