Throwers lead the way at Tiger Invite

Kelsey Poljansek and Adam Wolkins’ national qualifying performances in the throws events were part of six national qualifying marks hit by Cowley College athletes at the Tiger Invite held Saturday in Ark City.

“Overall, I thought we competed well,” Cowley head coach Mark Phillips said. “For the first time in over a month we are pretty healthy.”

Poljansek dominated the discus and hammer events as she hit national qualifying marks in both events. Poljansek’s throw of 150-feet-1 inch in the discus was more than 28 feet better than runner up Josie Mark of Cloud County. Her toss of 146-feet-2 inches in the hammer throw was 20-feet better than second place finisher, Ebonee Carter of Cloud County.

Wolkins’ (pictured) mark of 215-feet-6 inches in the javelin was more than 13 feet better than Johnson County’s Andy Baron.

“Adam and Kelsey both had real good marks for early in the year,” Phillips said. “It was a nice way to get going here at home.”

Ashley Cronin hit the national qualifying mark in the 5,000-meter run as she placed third with a time of 18:51.91.

On the men’s side, freshman John Kenney placed second in the 100 and 200-meter runs. His time of 21.83 in the 200-meter run qualified him for nationals.

“I wasn’t expecting that kind of time in the 200 in his first outdoor meet,” Phillips said.

Johnny Purvis and Brett Koehn finished third and fourth in the 5,000-meter run and hit national qualifying marks in the process.

“That was the first legitimate race Johnny has ran in track while being healthy,” Phillips said. “Brett just keeps churning them out.”

The Tiger track and field teams will compete at the Coffeyville Dean Pryor Inviite on Saturday.

Cowley results:
WOMEN
•200-meter dash — Xandria Cash, 27.13, eighth.
•1,500-meter dash — Jessica McLeod, 5:17.27, seventh; Janee’ Gabbard, 5:34.84, 13th; Dawn Zimmerman, 6:03.62, 15th; Kari Rinehart, 6:05.00, 16th.
•800-meter run — Jeniffer Cherono, 2:29.45, third; Jessica McLeod, 2:31.97, fourth; Brianna Byers, 2:32.21, fifth; Bethany Schmidt, 2:34.23, ninth; Gabbard, 2:34.44, 11th.
•5,000-meter run — Ashley Cronin, 18:51.91, third, national qualifier; Christy Buller, 20:20.98, ninth.
•4x400-meter relay — Cowley “A”, Byers, Schmidt, Anna German, Cash, 4:18.32, fourth.
•Discus — Kelsey Poljansek, 150-1, first, national qualifier.
•Hammer — Poljansek, 146-2, first, national qualifier.

MEN
•100-meter dash — John Kenney, 11.14, second.
•200-meter dash — Kenney, 21.83, second, national qualifier; Sean Brown, 23.97, 16th.
•400-meter dash — Justin Viewins, 49.49, 10th; Jerell McCain, 53.48, 17th; Brown, 53.66, 18th; Mark Butler, 53.73, 19th.
•800-meter run — Larry Hill, 1:57.23, fourth; Harrison Philp, 1:58.30, ninth; Dakota Price, 1:58.33, 10th; Matt Silovsky, 1:59.20, 11th; Rolando Vasquez, 2:03.28, 13th.
•1,500-meter run — Gilbert Manzanares, 4:15.10, seventh; Nate Newland, 4:32.87, 12th.
•5,000-meter run — Johnny Purvis, 15:28.61, third, national qualifier; Brett Koehn, 15:34.16, fourth, national qualifier; Justin Cacaro, 15:57.25, fifth; Tristan Wall, 16:38.64, ninth.
•3,000-meter steeplechase — Jonathan Cherono, 9:24.85, first; Mauricio Morales, 10:12.81, seventh; Rolando Vasquez, 10:15.28, eighth.
•4x400-meter relay — Cowley “A”, Hill, Price, McCane, Viewins, 3:24.89, fourth; Cowley “B”, Newland, Philp, Silovsky, Vasquez, 3:31.76, fifth; Cowley “C”, Butler, Brown, Manzanares, Morales, 3:34.67, sixth.
•High jump — Brown, 6-0 ¾, seventh.
•Pole vault — David Starnes, 14-4 ¾, second; Willy Lucero, 13-5, third; Butler, 12-11, fourth.
•Javelin — Adam Wolkins, 215-6, first, national qualifier; Mitch Hewitt, 168-2, sixth.