INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

The Huntington indoor track and field program came away from the Crossroads League Championships at Fall Creek Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds over the weekend with three conference champions and 16 All-Conference honors.

On the women’s side, Erica Xayarath racked up 26 points in jumps for the Foresters to be named the meet’s MVP for scoring the most points. Her first podium appearance was on Friday in long jump where she was deemed the conference champion with her leap of 5.81 meters. On Saturday, she claimed second in triple jump (11.44m) and high jump (1.68m) bringing her All-League awards to three. Both marks in long jump and high jump were A standards while her triple jump mark was a B standard.

Emily Tedder also collected three All-Conference praises. She finished third in the 1000 meters (2:59.13) and that same place in the mile (5:03.04), both of which were A standard times. Additionally she teamed up with Trysta Hilton, Mackenzie Brewer and Malarie Pinwar to finish second in the DMR in 12:13.59 which also proved an A standard.

Rounding out HU’s All-League performances were Brooklyn Simmons and Josey Reineman in jumps. Simmons took third in long jump (5.57m) and triple jump (11.04m). She automatically qualified for nationals in long jump. Reineman also brought home a third place finish in high jump and hit the provisional mark with her leap of 1.65 meters.

Pinwar rounded out the list of national qualifiers on the women’s side with her A standard time of 5:03.61 in the mile.

As a team, the Huntington women finished third with 91 points.

“I couldn’t be happier with our women’s team performances across all events,” said Coach Austin Roark. “We had multiple PRs and qualifying standards that our women have worked really hard to achieve.

“Overall, everyone on the women’s team did great. Our meet was highlighted with Erica Xayarath winning the women’s meet MVP award by scoring the most points. To go out and score 26 points for her team and help get them to a third place finish is awesome. I believe this is one of the highest finishes for our women’s team at the Crossroads League Championships in a very long time.”

The HU men also had some phenomenal performances over the weekend.  Zach Collins was tabbed the CL champion in the 200 meters. His time of 21.56 was not only an A standard, but a new CL Championships meet record and HU record as well.

Austin Liepe was also a conference champion. On Friday night as the No. 9 seed, he outsprinted his competition in the final two laps in the 5000 meters to win in 14:40.40. With this time, he automatically qualifies for the big stage and slides into the No. 2 spot in the HU record books.

On Saturday, he picked up a second All-Conference badge and another A standard in the 3000 meters where he claimed second in 8:26.50.

Kent Yoder also punched his ticket to nationals in the 5000 meters with his time of 14:52.47 which is an NAIA B standard.

As a team, the Huntington men scored 32 points for eighth place.

“This was an incredible meet for Austin Liepe,” noted Coach Roark. “I think he became one of the favorites for fans to watch by his incredible kick at the end of his races.

“And one of the best performances in the country comes from Zach Collins in the 200. He has established himself as one of the best dual event sprinters in the country. I’m excited to see what our guys can do at nationals next week in Brookings.”

NAIA Nationals is the culmination of the indoor season and is slated for February 29 – March 2 in Brookings, S.D.

HU WOMEN ALL-CONFERENCE
Mackenzie Brewer –  DMR (2nd)
Tryston Hilton (x2) – Pentathlon (2nd); DMR (2nd)
Malarie Pinwar – DMR (2nd)
Josey Reineman – High Jump (3rd)
Brooklyn Simmons (x2) – Long Jump (3rd); Triple Jump (3rd)
Emily Tedder (x3) – 1000m (3rd); Mile (3rd); DMR (2nd)
Erica Xayarath (x3) – Long Jump (1st); Triple Jump (2nd); High Jump (2nd)

HU MEN ALL-CONFERENCE
Zach Collins – 200 (1st)
Austin Liepe (x2) – 5000m (1st); 3000m (2nd)

HU WOMEN’S FULL RESULTS
60m – Sydni Ausberry (7th, 8.02); Addyson Dowler (13th, 8.12); Ingrid Gress (19th, 8.33)
200m – Sydni Ausberry (14th, 27.26); Addyson Dowler (15th, 27.41); Lydia Baker (17th, 27.59)
400m – Lydia Baker (9th, 1:01.21); Trysta Hilton (17th, 1:02.23); Stacy Stutzman (21st, 1:04.40)
600m – Mackenzie Brewer (8th, 1:43.35); Brielle Fehlmann (12th, 1:52.64); Morgann Hart (16th, 2:05.32)
800m – Brielle Fehlmann (22nd, 2:39.84); Lily Spaulding (26th, 2:50.52)
1000m – Emily Tedder (3rd, 2:59.13); Malarie Pinwar (7th, 3:04.79); Mackenzie Brewer (9th, 3:08.66)
Mile – Emily Tedder (3rd, 5:03.04); Malarie Pinwar (4th, 5:03.61); Shaylynn Reyes (20th, 5:47.51)
3000m – Alyeska Linsley (13th, 11:06.92); Deann Fry (16th, 11:27.31); Shaylynn Reyes (24th, 11:53.08)
5000m – Molly Harding (4th, 18:40.53); Abbey Gentz (12th, 19:16.32); Amelia Strzechowski (18th, 20:20.84)
4x400m relay – Lydia Baker, Trysta Hilton, Addyson Dowler, Syndi Ausberry (9th, 4:13.09)
DMR – Emily Tedder, Trysta Hilton, Mackenzie Brewer, Malarie Pinwar (2nd, 12:13.59)
High Jump – Erica Xayarath (2nd, 1.68m); Josey Reineman (3rd, 1.65m);
Pole Vault –  Katie Bolt (14th, 2.47m)
Long Jump – Erica Xayarath (1st, 5.81m); Brooklyn Simmons (3rd, 5.57m)
Triple Jump – Erica Xayarath (2nd, 11.44m); Brooklyn Simmons (3rd, 11.04m)
Shot Put –  Janai Haney (19th, 8.09m); Kara Strong (21st, 6.68m)
Weight Throw – Aanyah Wright (5th, 15.20m); Janai Haney (26th, 8.02m); Kara Strong (27th, 7.06m)
Pentathlon – Trysta Hilton (2nd, 2902 points)

HU MEN’S FULL RESULTS
60m – Corbin Till (10th, 7.12); Sam Handerson (17th, 7.31); Chad Smith (24th, 7.50)
200m – Zach Collins (1st, 21.56); Corbin Till (13th, 23.10); Alex Escamilla (25th, 24.51)
400m – Grady Martin (11th, 51.84): Blake Miller (20th, 54.17); Nazareth Hill (22nd, 55.49)
600m – Reece Gibson (13th, 1:25.80); Jonah Lemmon (15th, 1:26.76); Zxavier Lehmkuhle (17th, 1:29.01)
800m –  Jonah Lemmon (13th, 1:59.23); Ari Segovia (23rd, 2:11.98); Wyatt Harrington (24th, 2:15.62)
Mile – Isaac Combs (24th, 4:51.06); Tyler Loucks (25th, 4:51.42)
3000m – Austin Liepe (2nd, 8:26.50); Reece Gibson (9th, 8:40.89); Carter VanderMeer (19th, 8:59.83)
5000m – Austin Liepe (1st, 14:40.40); Kent Yoder (7th, 14:52.47)
60m hurdles – Parker Baker (9th, 8.87)
4x400m relay – Grady Martin, Blake Miller, Parker Baker, Zach Collins (7th, 3:30.54)
Pole Vault – Scott Parrish (13th, 3.65m)
Long Jump – Robert Nabulere (11th, 6.15m)