May 5, 2008

Cowley track teams capture second straight conference titles

Getting contributions from nearly every one of its athletes, the Cowley College men and women’s track and field teams captured its second straight Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division titles over the weekend in Coffeyville.

The Tiger men finished an eye-popping 97 points better than runner-up Neosho County in the conference, while the Cowley women finished 23 points better than second place Coffeyville. The Lady Tigers placed fourth in the region, and the men placed fifth.

“I was real proud of our kids,” Cowley head coach Mark Phillips said. “We are not as deep as a year ago, so a lot of kids had to step up.”

The Cowley men were the conference champions in 11 events, and the Lady Tigers were conference champions in nine events.

Jeniffer Cherono was the conference/region champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She also was the conference champion in the 5,000-meter run, 3,000-meter steeplechase, and was a member of the conference winning 4x400 and 4x800-meter relay teams.

“Jeniffer stepped up and had a great meet for us,” Phillips said.

Kelsey Poljansek was the conference champion in the shot put, discus, and hammer. She also was the region champion in the discus and hammer.

Jonathan Cherono was the conference and region champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and was the conference champion in the 5,000-meter run.
“Jonathan ran really well,” Phillips said.

David Starnes was the conference/region champion in the pole vault with a vault of 15-feet-10 ½ inches.

‘David has been coming on strong at the right time of year,” Phillips said.

Adam Wolkins was the Tigers’ other region/conference champion as he broke his own school-record with a throw of 227-feet in the javelin.

Butler Community College took home the men and women’s region titles.

The Cowley track and field teams will host the Tiger Last chance meet on Thursday with field events starting at 2 p.m. and running events beginning at 4 p.m. The teams will then prepare for the NJCAA National Outdoor Championships, which will be held May 15-17 in Levelland, Texas.

“I think we can finish close to what we did at regionals, we have got top-10 teams,” Phillips said.

Region results:
WOMEN
•100-meter dash — Xandria Cash, 12.95, ninth.
•200-meter dash — Cash, 26.44, sixth.
•400-meter dash — Cash, 1:05.48, ninth.
•800-meter run — Brianna Byers, 2:27.76, sixth; Bethany Schmidt, 2:28.11, seventh; Jessica McLeod, 2:28.47, eighth.
•1,500-meter run — McLeod, 5:22.09, eighth.
•5,000-meter run — Jeniffer Cherono, 19:15.09, second in region/conference champion, national qualifier.
•400-meter hurdles — Janee’ Gabbard, 1:19.45, 10th.
•3,000-meter steeplechase — Cherono, 11:49.34, region/conference champion, national qualifier; Ashley Cronin, 12:21.11, second, national qualifier.
•4x400-meter relay — Byers, Cash, Schmidt, Cherono, 4:21.39, fourth in region/conference champions.
•4x800-meter relay — Byers, Schmidt, Gabbard, Cherono, 10:00.18, second in region/conference champions, national qualifier.
•Long jump — Sasha Oliver, 14-3, 11th.
•Triple jump — Oliver, 36-0 ¼, fourth in region/conference champion.
•Shot put — Kelsey Poljansek, 44-8, second in region/conference champion, national qualifier.
•Discus — Poljansek, 141-11, region/conference champion, national qualifier.
•Hammer — Poljansek, 156-10, region/conference champion, school-record, national qualifier.
•Javelin — Poljansek, 105-5, eighth.

MEN
•200-meter dash — Justin Viewins, 23.27, 16th; Sean Brown, 24.77, 24th.
•400-meter dash — Viewins, 50.13, fifth in region/conference champion; Brown, 55.99, 24th.
•800-meter run — Larry Hill, 1:56.47, fourth in region/conference champion; Matt Silovsky, 1:58.09, seventh; Dakota Price, 2:05.62, 20th.
•1,500-meter run — Justin Cacaro, 4:13.98, fifth in region/conference champion; Nate Newland, 4:20.65, ninth; Gilbert Manzanares, 4:26.81, 13th.
•5,000-meter run — Jonathan Cherono, 15:10.44, second in region/conference champion, national qualifier; Johnny Purvis, 15:41.72, fourth; Brett Koehn, 15:53.52, fifth.
•10,000-meter run — Cacaro, 35:11.94, fifth in region/conference champion; Tristan Wall, 35:55.46, seventh.
•110-meter hurdles — Rusty Gray, 16.60, seventh.
•400-meetr hurdles — Gray, 59.68, sixth; Mauricio Morales, 1:00.42, ninth; Mark Butler, 1:01.09, 10th.
•3,000-meter steeplechase — Cherono, 9:34.22, region/conference champion, national qualifier; Morales, 9:55.05, fourth, national qualifier; Rolando Vasquez, 10:51.37, 10th.
•4x800-meter relay — Hill, Silovsky, Harrison Philp, Dakota Price, 7:53.64, third.
•High jump — David Starnes, 5-10 ¼, 12th; Brown, 5-8 ½, 14th tie; Adam Wolkins, 5-8 ½, 14th tie.
•Pole vault — Starnes, 15-10 ½, region/conference champion; Willy Lucero, 14-4 ¾, second; Jordan Pote, 12-11, sixth.
•Triple jump — Pote, 40-7 ½, 12th.
•Shot put — Wolkins, 35-9 ½, 12th.
•Discus — Wolkins, 119-10, ninth.
•Hammer — Wolkins, 132-10, ninth.
•Javelin — Wolkins, 227-0, region/conference champion, school-record, national qualifier.
•Decathlon — Mark Butler, 5,394 points, fifth.