Poljansek breaks school record in hammer, Wolkins places first in javelin 

Going head to head against athletes from schools such as Wichita State University and Kansas State University, the Cowley College track and field teams had some strong individual performances at the WSU K.T. Woodman Classic held Sunday at Wichita’s Cessna Stadium.

“I was very pleased with our performances considering it was a cold and windy day,” Cowley head coach Mark Phillips said. 

Kelsey Poljansek broke the school-record in the hammer with a third place toss of 155-feet-5 inches. Poljansek also placed second in the discus (154-6) and third in the shot put (45-6). Poljansek will leave Cowley with every throws record except the indoor weight throw.

Leading the way for the men’s team was sophomore Adam Wolkins, who won the javelin competition with a throw of 220-feet-11 inches. Wolkins’ final throw edged that of Wichita State’s Brett Trudo.

“Kelsey and Adam continue to lead us.” Phillips said.

David Starnes and Willy Lucero placed fifth and seventh in the pole vault, respectively. Starnes (15-7) and Lucero (15-1) each hit national qualifying marks at the meet.

“It was a great day for those two guys,” Phillips said.

Ashley Cronin hit the national qualifying mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase as she placed fourth with a time of 11:57.20. Jennifer Cherono hit the national qualifying mark in the 1,500-meter run with a fifth place time of 4:58.30.

Phillips was especially pleased with Cherono’s performance.

“We were all like, wow! Where did that come from,” Phillips said.

Cowley will host the Tiger Decathlon/Heptathlon today at 4 p.m. The event will continue Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. Athletes that did not qualify to compete at the KU Relays on Thursday will take part in the Tabor Invite on Wednesday.

Cowley results:
MEN
•High jump — Sean Brown, 6-0, ninth.
•Pole vault — David Starnes, 15-7, fifth, national qualifier; Willy Lucero, 15-1, seventh, national qualifier; Mark Butler, 13-6, 16th.
•Javelin — Adam Wolkins, 220-11, first, national qualifier; Mitch Hewitt, 167-0, 11th.
•1,500-meter run — Jonathan Cherono, 4:08.25, fourth; Mauricio Morales, 4:10.40, fifth; Brett Koehn, 4:12.14, eighth; Nate Newland, 4:12.26, 10th; Johnny Purvis, 4:13.19, 12th; Gilbert Manzanares, 4:20.33, 16th.
•400-meter dash — Justin Viewins, 50.30, sixth; Deion Ruble, 51.88, 13th; Sean Brown, 54.56, 26th.
•100-meter dash — John Kenney, 11.10, 10th.
•800-meter run — Dakota Price, 1:58.95, 11th; Rolando Vasquez, 1:59.21, 12th; Larry Hill, 2:00.65, 13th; Matt Silovsky, 2:03.66, 19th; Newland, 2:08.76, 33rd.
•200-meter dash — Kenney, 22.19, ninth.
•5,000-meter run — Justin Cacaro, 16:11.33, third; Dustin Garcia, 16:27.17, fourth.
•4x400-meter relay — Cowley “A”, Hill, Ruble, Viewins, Price, 3:22.92, sixth; Cowley “B”, Silovsky, Brown, Vasquez, Morales, 3:37.94.

WOMEN
•Discus — Kelsey Poljansek, 154-6, second, national qualifier.
•Hammer — Poljansek, 155-5, third, national qualifier, school record.
•Shot put — Poljansek, 45-6 ¼, third, national qualifier.
•1,500-meter run — Jennifer Cherono, 4:58.30, fifth, national qualifier; Jessica McLeod, 5:13.55, 16th; Christy Buller, 5:43.44, 28th; Dawn Zimmerman, 6:08.34, 29th; Kari Rinehart, 6:10.00, 30th.
•3,000-meter steeplechase — Ashley Cronin, 11:57.20, fourth, national qualifier.
•400-meter dash — Xandria Cash, 1:02.92, seventh.
•800-meter run — McLeod, 2:26.69, 11th; Brianna Byers, 2:30.13, 17th; Bethany Schmidt, 2:36.41, 22nd.
•400-meter hurdles — Janee Gabbard, 1:16.39, 10th.
•200-meter dash — Cash, 26.00, sixth.