TOPEKA, Kan. - Seven more individuals secured national-qualifying standards for the Iowa Central track and field team here Friday at the Washburn JUCO Challenge.
Lee Eppie in the 200, Enoch Antwi in the triple jump and Kelvin Bungei in the 3000 secured standards for the Triton men with Hannah Connell (200), Rosalie Fish and Chloe Lenoir (800) and Lilia Alvarez (3000) doing the same for the Iowa Central women.
Three of those performances resulted in Top-11 all-time postings in school history from Connell, Eppie and Anti.
"It was a great start to a big weekend for us with two competitions in three days," Iowa Central's Dee Brown said. "We are producing a few more national qualifiers and fine-tuning our athletes for the championship part of the season. I hope the excitement generated this weekend can sustain us for the next three weeks."
Bungei won the 3000 in 8:26.21 with Jaheem Hayles placing first in the 60 hurdles in 8.00. Connell captured the 200 in 24.36.
Second place finishes included Eppie in the 200 (21.61), Enoch Antwi in the triple jump (47-7.25), Ellis Trainor in the shot put (47-4.25), Jarod Henderson in the weight throw (51-8.25), Fish in the 800 (2:20.18) and Victoria Adu in the weight throw (58-10).
Jerome Jessup (200/21.77), Nicola Paletti (high jump/6-00.75), Antwi (long jump/21-9.5), William Richardson (weight throw/50-7.5), Connell (60/7.57) and Alvarez (3000/10:46.78) were all third.
The Iowa Central men finished first in the JUCO standings with 107 points followed by Cloud County and Iowa Western. The Triton women were fourth with 54 points as Cloud County finished first. South Dakota won the Div. I men's and women's title over a field that included Arkansas State, Wichita State, Tulsa, Oral Roberts and Central Arkansas.
Up next will be the regular season finale for the Tritons as they host the Triton Kansas Challenge from Pittsburg State in Kansas.
-By Dana Becker