Cowley men capture indoor conference title, women finish second

Winning the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division indoor track and field title for the first time since 2005, the Cowley College men’s indoor track and field team finished 23 points better than second place Johnson County Sunday in Manhattan.

“We did what we could with all of the sickness we have had,” Cowley head coach Mark Phillips said. “The guys really stayed after it and did some good things. I was real proud of their effort.”

Mauricio Morales (mile run), Harrison Philp (1,000-meter run, 4x800-meter relay, distance medley relay), Jonathan Cherono (3,000-meter and 5,000-meter run), and Jordan Pote (pole vault) were conference champions at the meet. Larry Hill, Matt Silovsky, and Dakota Price teamed with Philp to win the conference title in the 4x800-meter relay. While, Mark Butler, Dwight Jenkins, and Rolando Vasquez teamed with Philp to win the conference title in the distance medley relay.

“Harrison Philp had an unbelievable meet and was a key to the two relays he was on,” Phillips said.

Along with finishing first in the conference in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs, Cherono also won the region title in the 5,000-meter run.

“Jonathan ran two smart races and ran really well,” Phillips said.

Pote repeated as the conference and region champion in the pole vault as he cleared 14-feet-9 inches.

Justin Cacaro also performed well as he dropped 40 seconds off his career best time in the 5,000-meter run (15:45.19) and qualified for nationals.

The Tiger men placed fifth in the region with 80 points, while Barton County captured the region title with 139 points.

The Lady Tigers had five conference champions and one region champion as they placed second behind Johnson County in the conference and fourth in the region. Butler Community College won the region title as they finished 60 points better than runner-up Barton County.

Jessica McLeod was the conference champion in the mile run and 800-meter run, while Janee’ Gabbard (1,000-meter run), Jennifer Cherono (5,000-meter run), and Kelsey Poljansek (shot put) were also conference champions. Poljansek repeated as conference and region champion in the shot put.

“Kelsey really threw well,” Phillips said.

With limited numbers and health issues plaguing the team, the Lady Tigers had its streak of back-to-back conference titles snapped.

“Our number of women on the squad are low, so in order for us to do well we would have had to go in there full strength,” Phillips said. “We hope to be healthy at nationals.”

Cowley will host the Tiger Last Chance Meet Friday at its Track and Field Complex. Field events will begin at 1 p.m. and running events will start at 2 p.m.

“We will use this as a tune up for some of our kids,” Phillips said. “We will try and get healthy and ready for nationals.”

The NJCAA Indoor National Championships will be held March 7-8 in Charleston, IL.

Cowley results:
WOMEN
•60-meter dash — Xandria Cash, 8.09, ninth.
•200-meter dash — Cash, 26.44, sixth; Anna German, 28.97, 16th.
•Mile run — Jessica McLeod, 5:35.81, conference champion, second in region; Dawn Zimmerman, 6:27.37, 14th.
•800-meter run — Jessica McLeod, 2:29.44, conference champion, fourth in region.
•1,000-meter run — Janee’ Gabbard, 3:28.49, conference champion, fifth in region.
•5,000-meter run — Jeniffer Cherono, 18:43.42, conference champion, second in region, national qualifier; Ashley Cronin, 18:47.37, third, national qualifier; Christy Buller, 20:42.83, eighth.
•4x400-meter relay — Cowley “A” (Cash, McLeod, Gabbard, German), 4:23.99, fifth.
•Pole vault — German, 8-10 ¼, fourth.
•Long jump — Sasha Oliver, 15-5, 12th.
•Triple jump — Oliver — 32-0 ¼, 12th.
•Shot put — Kelsey Poljansek, 47-6 ½, region and conference champion.
•Weight throw — Poljansek, 43-8, third, national qualifier.

MEN
•60-meter dash — John Kenney, 7.03, ninth.
•200-meter dash — Kenney, 22.88, 13th; Deion Ruble, 23.43, 19th.
•400-meter dash _ Ruble, 52.85, 16th; Sean Brown, 54.09, 19th; Ethan Whitmore, 55.14, 22nd.
•Mile run — Mauricio Morales, 4:29.68, conference champion, fourth in region; Gilbert Manzanares, 4:37.25, sixth.
•600-meter run — Justin Viewins, 1:24.48, sixth; Dakota Price, 1:26.29, 11th; Jerell McCane, 1:28.96, 18th.
•800-meter run — Matt Silovsky, 2:01.28, eighth; Larry Hill, 2:01.86, ninth.
•1,000-meter run — Harrison Philp, 2:36.95, conference champion, second in region, national qualifier; Justin Cacaro, 2:42.26, ninth; Rolando Vasquez, 2:42.97, 11th.
•3,000-meter run — Jonathan Cherono, 15:12.95, conference champion, national champion; Brett Koehn, 9:14.19; Mauricio Morales, 9:14.57, seventh.
•5,000-meter run — Cherono, 15:12.95, region and conference champion, national qualifier; Cacaro, 15:45.19, national qualifier; Morales, 15:48.47, national qualifier.
•60-meter hurdles — Rusty Gray, 9.54, 10th; Mark Butler, 9.85, 13th.
•4x400-meter relay — Cowley “A” (Price, Ruble, Hill, Viewins), 3:29.72, ninth.
•4x800-meter relay — Cowley “A” (Philp, Hill, Silovsky, Price), 8:01.46, conference champion, national qualifier.
•Distance Medley relay — Cowley “A” (Philp, Butler, Dwight Jenkins, Vasquez), 10:52.06, conference champion, second.
•High jump — Brown, 6-2, 10th; Adam Wolkins, 5-10, 14th.
•Pole vault — Jordan Pote, 14-9, region and conference champion, national qualifier; Willy Lucero, 13-6 ¼, seventh.
•Long jump — Ethan Whitmore, 17-11 ½, 21st.
•Shot put — Chip Broaddus, 39-0 ¼, 14th.
•Weight throw — Broaddus, 40-7 ¾, 11th.
•Pentathlon — Butler, 2,712, ninth; Wolkins, 2,627, 10th; Brown, 2,441, 11th.