Emporia State track and field launched its outdoor season with a second place finish for men and fourth place finish for women over the three-day ESU Relays from Thursday, March 27 to Saturday, March 29.
The Hornet men finished with 99 points, falling behind Wichita State, and the Hornet women finished with 66.50 points.
On Friday, ESU’s first day of competition, the Hornets claimed six top-four finishes in the 10 events they competed in. With the top individual finish, senior Luke Gleason ran 4:01:09 in the men’s 1500m and finished second.
Freshman Aaron Quillen finished third in the men’s pole vault and Treyton Laurance fourth in the men’s 10,000m. On the women’s side, senior Mason Bina placed third in the 1500m with a personal best and sophomore Savannah Stewart finished third in the pole vault. Junior Madison Vermetten finished fourth in the women’s hammer throw.
The following day, ESU saw a total of 11 provisional qualifiers, seven new top-five marks in Hornet history, two event winners and five runner-up finishes between the men’s and women’s teams.
Four of the top seven finishers for men’s javelin were Hornets; the men’s javelin competition saw the top 11 finishers meet the provisional qualifying mark for NCAA Division II nationals.
Freshman Kole Manley finished second in the men’s javelin with the third best throw in ESU history; his throw is also ranked third for Division II and 15th in the world for the early outdoor season. Junior Brooks Lowe, sophomore Mitch Budke and senior Andrew Hicks placed third, fifth and seventh respectively in javelin.
Junior Ty Anderson set a school record in the men’s 100m, last set in 2011, with a time of 10.17 and hit two provisional qualifiers in both the 100m and the long jump.
Sophomore Max Neely placed second in the men’s pole vault, a third all-time at ESU, and sophomore Cooper Schroer took first in the men’s 800m.
Senior Abigael Reid also saw a first place spot in the 400m hurdles. She was followed by freshman Isabella Davie who took second. In the 3000m steeplechase Emma Batholome placed third and Mia Manley finished sixth in the pole vault. Manley’s mark for the pole vault is the second best in ESU history.
