Emporia State Track and Field secured several NCAA provisional qualifiers and claimed new records at the MIAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships held May 1-3 in Pittsburg, Kansas.
On the championship’s opening day, ESU recorded multiple top-eight finishes in day one of the decathlon and heptathlon, including senior jumper Luke Grace who led the decathlon after day one and sophomore multievent athlete Lou Dumas who finished the day off in second in the heptathlon after four events.
The Hornets also qualified for Sunday’s finals in each running preliminary event they competed in and recorded two NCAA provisional qualifying marks
Freshman sprinter Stella Agbokpah won her 100m heat in 11.67, an NCAA provisional time that ranked second in the prelims and advanced to Sunday’s final. Junior multi-event athlete Arriana Johnson ran a personal-best 1:04.56, the sixth fastest time, in the 400m hurdles. Sophomore sprinter Barbara Bentum also advanced to the women’s 400m final after clocking 56.63 in the prelims, which ranked eighth overall.
For the men, junior sprinter Emmanuel Dukpe ran a provisional 47.00 in the 400 meters prelims and the event’s fourth-fastest time. Senior sprinter Ezekiel Seamster ran 10.50 in the men’s 100m prelims to advance to the finals.
In Emporia State’s only track final on Friday, sophomore distance runner Dylan Hunter finished ninth in the 10,000m.
On day two, The Hornets recorded eight scoring finishes, qualified six additional athletes for Sunday’s finals and achieved four more NCAA provisional marks. The team also posted three performances that rank among the top five in school history, along with setting a new stadium record.
The day opened with Emporia State earning 15 points in the decathlon and adding another 12 points in the heptathlon.
Grace finished second in the decathlon with 6,248 points, followed by junior Luke Hampl in fifth. Hampl secured a career best of 5,325. Redshirt freshman John Henry finished in sixth with 4,450 despite not finishing the 1,500 meters.
Four Hornets placed in the heptathlon, led by Dumas in fourth and junior Isabella Davie in fifth, both NCAA provisional marks. Junior multi-event Scarlett Begley was seventh with a personal best, followed by freshman hurdler Freshman Hurdler Ava Markley in eighth.
The Hornet men also added points in the high jump, where Will Allen cleared a career-best 2.04 meters to finish sixth.
ESU advanced several athletes to Sunday’s finals in three events. Senior distance runner Mason Bina set a stadium record in the women’s 800 meters with a 2:12.86 prelim time, ranking third in ESU history. Agbokpah advanced to the 200 meters final with a provisional qualifying time of 23.79. Bentum joined her in the final with the seventh-fastest prelim time of 24.63.
Sophomore sprinter Israel Domeh ran 20.89 in the 200 meters prelims, the second-fastest time for the university and an NCAA provisional mark. He advanced to the finals with junior sprinter Alden Mollerus, who claimed fourth with a personal best of 21.24, and Seamster, who was fifth in 21.47.
ESU finished the final day of the MIAA Championships on Sunday with four runner-up finishes, nine podium placements and 14 NCAA provisional qualifiers. The men finished fifth overall and the women placed eighth at the championships.
In the men’s 200 meters, ESU finished second, third, and fourth and recorded three of the fastest times in program history.
Domeh set a new school record at 20.48 to finish second, breaking the previous mark from 2011, while Mollerus ran 20.86 for third and Seamster posted 20.87 for fourth. Mollerus now ranks third all-time and Seamster fourth in program history. The trio combined for 19 points in the team standings.
Freshman Grayson Walburn threw a provisional 66.87m on his first attempt at the javelin, his debut throw of the season for ESU, to place third overall. Redshirt junior Brooks Lowe added a second-place finish with a 68.08m throw, combining for 14 team points.
Junior thrower Connor Deters and senior thrower Zach Sulzen-Watson earned provisional marks in the shot put, placing fourth and seventh.
All four Emporia State relay teams placed in the top five with provisional times. In the 4x100m and 4x400m, the Hornet men ran 40.40 and 3:08.77 respectively for third place. The Hornet women ran 3:44.78 in the 4x400m relay for third and 45.16 in the 4x100m for fifth.
Individually, Agbokpah added runner-up finishes in both the 100m and 200m with provisional times. She led Emporia State with 20.5 points. Bentum placed fourth in the 200m and seventh in the 400m. Bina placed fourth in the 800m in addition to her relay duties.
Johnson took fifth in the 400m hurdles with a top ten ESU time, while sophomore Harper Schoendaller also took a top ten mark going eighth in the javelin.
The NCAA Division II Outdoor Championships will be held May 21-23 in Emporia at Welch Stadium’s Witten Track. Several athletes will attend the Last Chance Qualifiers this weekend to improve their marks before the championship. ESU currently holds 23 NCAA provisional marks in 16 events, including 11 in the national top 20.
