MINNEAPOLIS - The road to the NJCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships brought Iowa Central here Saturday for the Jack Johnson Invitational.

The Tritons punched eight more automatic spots to the national meet, with five coming on the men's side. 

Jerome Jessup (60-meter dash), Robin Aguilar-Gonzalez (mile), Nicola Paletti (high jump), James MacKey (shot put) and Aries Scott (heptathlon) all qualified, along with Adeyah Brewster (60), Taylor McCreedy (800) and Victoria Adu (weight throw).

Brewster climbed up to a tie for fifth on the school's all-time list in the 60-meter hurdles, while Scott is now fifth in the heptathlon.

"Every day is a great day but (Saturday) was better than most," Iowa Central head coach Nick Ekel said. "After two meets we expected our students to come prepared to play, and they did just that. Many personal and seasonal bests were set, but what is even more exciting is that our coaches are seeing our students executing the strategies and techniques that we are teaching in practice.

"We are where we want to be with five weeks until nationals, and each week gets bigger from here on out."

Iowa Central swept the top-three spots in the 600, as Yared Kidane was first followed by Cassius Havis and Trae Corby. Christian Collins captured the high jump while Deronn Kane was the 200 runner-up and Scott placed second in the heptathlon. 

Brewster won the 60-meter dash and the 60-meter hurdles. 

"Our male heptathletes passed their first test of the season, competing in the two-day, seven-event challenge," said Dee Brown, Executive Director of Track and Field at Iowa Central. "Nico qualified for nationals in the high jump on day one before pulling out due to some muscle soreness. Aries improved his overall score by about 300 points. Our two newcomers, Jaylen and Cam, were able to get their feet wet in their first go-round with this event. It will be exciting to see how far they come by the end of the season."

The Tritons return to action this Friday and Saturday at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska.

-By Dana Becker