May 7, 2007

Cowley track teams capture first ever
Region VI Outdoor team titles

Having never finished higher than third at the Region VI Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Cowley College men and women’s track and field teams made history over the weekend as both teams captured Region VI and Jayhawk East titles.

Competing at Hutchinson Thursday through Saturday, the Lady Tigers gave a dominating performance in winning the conference title by 198 points over second place Johnson County (300-102). They also finished 51 points  better than runner-up Butler County (207 ½ to 156 ½) in the region.

The Lady Tigers also won conference and region titles during the indoor season.

“Our ladies went in and took care of business, they did what we expected,” Cowley head coach Mark Phillips said.

The Tiger men’s performance was a little bit more of a surprise. Phillips, who was named the men and women’s Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year, thought the team had a chance to win conference and region titles, but knew it would take a near perfect meet.

Cowley’s men’s team beat Johnson County by less than nine points in the conference (217 ½-208 2/3), and 10 ½ points in the region (145 ½-135).

“It was just an incredible meet by our guys,” Phillips said. “From top to bottom, there were wonderful performances. We had guys step up and score points that we were not expecting.”

Daniel Maina led the men’s team by winning conference titles in the 800-meter run, 1,500-meter run, 5,000-meter run and as a member of the 4x800-meter relay team. He also captured the region title in the 5,000-meter run and 4x800-meter relay, while finishing second in the 800 and 1,500-meter runs.

Stanley Mugo won conference titles in the 4x800-meter relay, 3,000-meter steeplechase, and 10,000-meter run. He was also the region champion in the 4x800-meter relay and 10,000-meter run.

“Stanley and Daniel had great meets,” Phillips said.

Ferrien Harris and Dante Miller teamed with Maina and Mugo on the 4x800-meter relay team.

Cody Tabor and Adam Wolkins also won conference and region titles in the shot put and javelin. Skyler Johnson finished just behind Tabor in second place in the shot put in the conference and region.

“Our throwers had to come through for us to be able to win,” Phillips said. “These guys showed up and were huge for us.”

The Lady Tigers were led by Jackline Kipwambok, who was named the Region VI Women’s Track Athlete of the Meet. Kipwambok was the conference and region champion in the 1,500-meter run, 10,000-meter run, and as a member of the 4x800-meter relay team. She also was the conference champion in the 5,000-meter run.

Kipwambok had to defeat Colby’s Betty Rotich, a multiple national champion in cross country and indoor track, to claim the region titles.

“That is an example of how good of a meet she had,” Phillips said.

Amelia Lewis also was the conference champion in four events as she won the high jump, long jump, triple jump, and was a member of the 4x100-meter relay team.

“Amelia had an incredible meet,” Phillips said.

Freshman Kelsey Poljansek also had a stellar meet as she won conference and region titles in the shot put and discus.

The Tiger track and field teams will now prepare to compete at the NJCAA National Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held May 17-19 in Coffeyville.

“Both teams will be going to nationals riding high,” Phillips said.

Results:
WOMEN
•100-meter dash — Aubree Dorsey, 12.34, fourth in conference, fifth in region; Jessica Johnson, 13.46, fifth in conference, 10th in region.
•200-meter dash — Dorsey, 26.81, fourth in conference, ninth in region; Johnson, 28.31, ninth in conference, 18th in region.
•400-meter dash — Hannah Burr, 1:11.13, eighth.
•800-meter run — Irene Kosgei, 2:25.01, conference champion, second in region; Bethany Schmidt, 2:30.67, fourth in conference, seventh in region; Patricia Dailey, 2:44.37, seventh in conference, 15th in region.
•1,500-meter run — Jackline Kipwambok, 4:48.08, conference and region champion; Kosgei, 4:58.50, third in conference, fourth in region; Jeniffer Cherono, 5:02.95, fifth in conference, sixth in region.
•5,000-meter run — Kipwambok, 18:48.57, conference champion, second in region; Cherono, 19:32.65, second in conference, third in region; Ashley Cronin, 20:39.07, third in conference, sixth in region.
•10,000-meter run — Kipwambok, 41:45.63, conference and region champion; Cronin, 43:36.39, second in conference and region; Christy Buller, 45:10.79, third in conference, fifth in region.
•100-meter hurdles — Dorsey, 14.84, conference champion, third in finals; Neisha Peterson, 15.94, third in conference, fifth in region; Alex Valley, 17.71, fifth in conference.
•400-meter hurdles — Burr, 1:21.31, fourth in conference, 12th in region; Valley, 1:23.34, fifth in conference, 13th in region.
•3,000-meter steeplechase — Cronin, 12:20.15, conference and region champion; Dailey, 13:20.63, fourth in conference and region.
•4x100-meter relay — Cowley A, Amelia Lewis, Johnson, Peterson, Dorsey, 48.12, conference champion, second in region.
•4x800-meter relay — Schmidt, Kosgei, Cherono, Kipwambok, 9:35.45, conference and region champion.
•High jump — Lewis, 5-1, conference champion, third in region; Burr, 4-7, sixth in conference, 13th in region.
•Pole vault — Lauren Sandmann, 8-6, third in conference, sixth in region.
•Long jump — Lewis, 18-8 ½, conference champion, third in region; Sasha Oliver, 15-5 ¼, fourth in conference, 11th in region; Peterson, 14-5, fifth in conference, 14th in region.
•Triple jump — Lewis, 37-6, conference and region champion; Oliver, 36-2, second in conference, third in region; Peterson, 32-6 ¾, fourth in conference, 11th in region.
•Shot put — Kelsey Poljansek, 47-8, conference and region champion; Tamara McMillan, 41-3, third in conference and region; Bridgette Nash, 38-10, fifth in conference and region.
•Discus — Poljansek, 148-1, conference and region champ; McMillan, 124-11, third in conference and region; Nash, 94-1, fifth in conference, 12th in region.
•Hammer — McMillan, 139-9, second in conference, third in region; Poljansek, 127-9, fourth in conference, sixth in region; Nash, 100-7, fifth in conference, 10th in region.
•Javelin — Rachelle Pauly, 118-10, fourth in conference and region; Sarah Aldrich, 93-5, sixth in conference, ninth in region; Johnson, 81-9, seventh in conference, 12th in region.
•Heptathlon — Peterson, 4,010 points, second in conference and region; Lewis, 3,592 points, third in conference, fifth in region; Pauly, 2,114 points, fifth in conference, eighth in region.

MEN
•100-meter dash — Wayne Trimmell, 11.72, 22nd in conference and region.
•200-meter dash — Jackie Reese, 21.77, fifth in conference, eighth in region.
•400-meter dash — Trimmell, 52.34, 12th in conference, 19th in region; Mark Chaney, 53.60, 14th in conference, 22nd in region; Johnny Thomas, 53.72, 15th in conference, 24th in region.
•800-meter run — Daniel Maina, 1:55.78, conference champion, second in region; Ferrien Harris, 1:58.27, fourth in conference, eighth in region; Dante miller, 2:00.27, sixth in conference, 13th in region.
•1,500-meter run — Maina, 3:55.03, conference champion, second in region; Gilbert Manzanares, 4:15.22, third in conference, eighth in region; Mauricio Morales, 4:18.93, fifth in conference, 13th in region.
•5,000-meter run — Maina, 15:31.12, conference and region champion; Jonathan Cherono, 16:03.25, second in conference, fourth in region; Stanley Mugo, 16:04.15, third in conference, fifth in region.
•10,000-meter run — Mugo, 34:18.73, conference and region champion; Cherono, 34:49.99, second in conference, fourth in region; Dustin Garcia, 35:31.58, fourth in conference, sixth in region.
•110-meter hurdles — Joseph Threet, 16.03, fourth in conference, ninth in region.
•400-meetr hurdles — Dakota Price, 1:00.81, fourth in conference, 11th in region; Dustin Pempsell, 1:02.17, fifth in conference, 12th in region.
•3,000-meter steeplechase — Mugo, 9:36.12, conference champion, second in region; Cherono, 9:44.48, second in conference, third in region; Morales, 10:08.90, sixth in conference, eighth in region.
•4x400-meter relay — Cowley A, Harris, Miller, Price, Reese, 3:22.75, fourth in conference, seventh in region.
•4x800-meter relay — Mugo, Harris, Miller, Maina, 7:41.04, conference and region champion.
•Long jump — Reese, 22-7, third in conference, sixth in region; Threet, 19-0, ninth in conference, 15th in region; Jordan Pote, 16-3, 10th in conference, 16th in region.
•Triple jump — Reese, 43-0, fifth in conference, eighth in region; Pote, 41-1, eighth in conference, 13th in region; Adam Pennington, 38-2 ½, ninth in conference, 14th in region.
•Shot put — Cody Tabor, 48-9, conference and region champion; Skyler Johnson, 46-11, second in conference and region; Bryan Tapia, 44-3, fifth in conference, eighth in region.
•Discus — Tapia, 148-8, second in conference and region; Johnson, 141-7, third in conference, fourth in region; Tabor, 136-10, sixth in conference, seventh in region.
•Hammer — Tabor, 152-7, third in conference and region; Tapia, 151-0, fourth in conference, fifth in region; Johnson, 137-5, sixth in conference, 12th in region.
•Javelin — Adam Wolkins, 216-9, conference and region champion; Tapia, 135-8, sixth in conference, 12th in region; Mugo, 133-7, seventh in conference, 14th in region.
•Decathlon — Threet, 5,514 points, fourth in conference and region; Pennington, 4,750 points, sixth in conference, 10th in region.