|
Track & Field
Panthers Claim Ninth-Consecutive Men's Title As Part of MVC Sweep
March 2, 2008 Complete Results | Quotes | MVC Championships Central
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - A historic performance by the University of Northern Iowa track and field team capped off the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships on Sunday in the UNI-Dome, with the Panthers sweeping both the men's and women's team championships and adding an additional nine individual titles to their impressive haul of hardware. The UNI men scored 167.5 points to secure a record ninth-consecutive MVC indoor championship, while the Panther women claimed their first indoor crown since 2002 with a score of 147.5. For the weekend, UNI collected championships in 12 events and racked up 39 All-MVC honors. "There's nothing better than having two teams win at the same time," said UNI head coach Chris Bucknam. "They're such a tight-knit group, so it's great when they can celebrate together."
Senior Raven Cepeda became UNI's first champion of the day by claiming his fourth-consecutive title in the men's heptathlon, as he became just the eighth athlete in MVC history to win the same event four times. Cepeda also did so in record fashion, setting a new Valley meet standard of 5,694 points. Along with the heptathlon title, Cepeda finished third in the 60-meter hurdles Sunday to go along with the pole vault championship he claimed on Saturday. Those efforts combined to make Cepeda the meet's Most Outstanding Men's Field Athlete and Most Valuable Men's Athlete, titles he also earned last season. Junior Tyler Mulder took home Most Outstanding Men's Track Athlete honors for his work in the meet, which included championships Sunday in the 800 meters and 4x400 relay. Cepeda opened the second day of his heptathlon title defense with the top mark in the 60-meter hurdles, jumping into the event lead with his clocking of 8.21 seconds. The performance gained the senior 930 points, pushing him to a one-point advantage over Cepeda then added to his lead with a personal-best and MVC-leading clearance of 16-10 1/4 in the pole vault before finishing off his unprecedented career sweep of the heptathlon with a clocking of 2:52.02 in the 1,000 meters. Senior Rachel Jansen also made history, becoming the first MVC female athlete to win three championships in the shot put. Jansen secured her title with a winning throw of 54-8 1/4, while teammate Sarah Harms also earned All-MVC honors in the event with her third-place effort of 46-4. The Panthers also made it a sweep of the men's relays, with the quartet of Terrance Reid, Ryan Grenko, Cory Goos and Mulder successfully defending their title in the 4x400 with a clocking of 3:12.81 that was just off meet-record pace. The Panthers also claimed the men's distance medley relay title on Saturday. Also defending titles were senior Jarrel Anderson, who ran an MVC season-best 7.90 to claim the men's 60-meter hurdles, and senior Crystal Hanson, who matched her season-best jump of 5-8 to take the women's high jump title for the second-consecutive season. Another senior finally saw her quest for a Valley title come to completion, as Traci Hawley scored her first MVC championship by taking the women's 3,000 meters in 9:50.70. Hawley was The Valley's runner-up in cross country last October and then finished second in the 5,000 meters on Saturday, but finally broke through on Sunday by finishing nearly three seconds ahead of Sophomore Julian Morris' wait for an MVC title was much shorter, as the transfer from Morris cleared a personal-best and MVC-leading 7 feet, 3 inches to take his first MVC title, while Oamen settled for the runner-up spot after a personal-best jump of 7-1 3/4. In the process, both athletes improved their chances of qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships, as each moved further past the provisional qualifying mark. Sophomore Dorian Ulrey broke the three-year stranglehold Much as he did in anchoring the Panthers to the title in the distance medley relay on Saturday, Ulrey kicked late to pass Azis and take the win. There was less suspense in Mulder's victory in the 800 meters, as the No. 4-ranked 800 runner in the nation led from start to finish to give UNI its second straight title in the event. The Panthers' score of 147.5 placed them well ahead of the rest of the Valley pack, which was led by On the men's side, the Panthers owned a 24-point cushion over runner-up Besides their championship performances, the Panthers benefitted greatly from their team depth on their way to sweeping the team titles. Among those registering All-MVC performances for UNI: - Meredith Simon, women's 60 hurdles (3rd - 24.95 seconds) - Lauren Carruthers, women's 400 meters (2nd - 55.83) - Jamie Hutchinson, women's 800 meters (2nd - 2:14.14) - Sarah Harms, women's shot put (3rd - 46 feet, 4 inches) - Dani Stipe, Jamie Hutchinson, Bagge, Carruthers, women's 4x400 relay (2nd - 3:46.16) - Terrance Reid, men's 200 meters (2nd - 21.70) - Ryan Grenko, men's 400 meters (3rd - 48.04) - Raven Cepeda, men's 60 hurdles (3rd - 8.19) - Ehi Oamen, men's high jump (2nd - 7-1 3/4 ) - Mat The Panthers will return to action next weekend in a final attempt to register qualifying performances for the NCAA Indoor Championships, competing in last-chance meets at |
 |
|||||
|
||||||
