WICHITA, Kan. - The Iowa Central track and field team took part in the Shocker Invitational hosted by Wichita State University here Friday and Saturday.
The Tritons won three individual events and had several new qualifiers for the NJCAA Championships.
Yared Kidane, Tafari Bishop, Hunter Klimek, Taylor McCreedy, Britney Brown, Nico Paletti and James MacKey Jr. secured bids to nationals during the two-day event.
Kidane claimed the 800 in 1:50.79, which is the second-fastest time in the country this year and fifth-best time in Iowa Central program history. In the same event on the women's side, Brown clocked the fastest time in the nation at 2:15.94 to place first. That mark is ninth-fastest in program history.
Roman Kuleshov captured the long jump with a leap of 7.04m. He was also fourth in the 200.
MacKey qualified for nationals in the hammer, McCreedy in the 3,000 Steeplechase and Klimek in the same event. Bishop punched his ticket in the 400 hurdles, winning the event in 54.70.
Paletti and Aries Scott showed their abilities, placing third and fourth in the decathlon. Paletti now ranks first in the nation in the event and posted a new personal record with 6,225 points, which puts him fifth in school history.
Scott is second in the nation in the event.
Klimek was the Steeplechase runner-up, MacKey finished third in the shot put and was fourth in both the hammer and discus. Hayden Cobbs placed fourth in the 100 and sixth in the 200, with Samson Shukuru finishing fourth in the long jump.
Terry McNeill Jr. was sixth in the 110 hurdles and Aspel Kiprob sixth in the 3,000. Kiprob ranks fifth on the school's all-time bests charts, while Aye Devany is ninth in the same event.
"We didn't have a full squad this weekend but the athletes that competed took full advantage of the competition and nice weather," said Dee Brown, Executive Director of Track and Field at Iowa Central. "We had some outstanding performances and a large number of personal bests. Nico Paletti posted the top mark in the nation in the 10-event decathlon so far this season; while teammate Yared Kidane ran the second-best time in the nation at 800m."
McCreedy scored silver in the Steeplechase and was fifth in the 800, while Jade Jackson was fourth in the 100 hurdles. Alisha Thomas added a fourth in the 200 and a sixth in the 100 for the Tritons.
Emma Seidl was fourth in the shot put and sixth in the discus, Emma Wood was sixth in the shot put and eighth in the discus, and Nyadhol Thichiot was sixth in the long jump.
The Iowa Central distance athletes will head to St. Louis on Friday for the WashU Distance Carnival hosted by Washington University. Other members of the team are set for Vermillion, S.D. and the USD Early Bird on Saturday.
-By Dana Becker