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May 24, 2010

Tiger men place sixth at National Track Championships

trackMaking last year’s 21st place national finish a thing of the past, the Cowley College men’s track and field team placed sixth out of 26 teams at the NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Hutchinson.

The Tiger men’s team, which featured 17 sophomores, looked as if they had something to prove as they finished 15 spots higher than a year ago. Cowley scored 43 points and ended up one point better than seventh place Coffeyville Community College. South Plains (Texas) captured its third straight national title as they finished 54 points (142-88) better than second place Central Arizona.

Cowley head coach Mark Phillips was pleased with his team’s national finish.

“I thought going in if we had a great meet we could finish anywhere from sixth through 10th, and we had an incredible meet,” Cowley head coach Mark Phillips said. “It was a great effort by the guys.”

Vondrell Harris capped his stellar sophomore season by finishing as the national runner-up in the high jump (7-0 ½) and earned NJCAA second-team All-American honors.

“Vondrell’s knee was hurting him in the triple jump but he came back to have a great high jump,” Phillips said.

Sophomore Jory Custar broke the school record in the 800-meter prelims (1:51.73), while Mac Griffith eclipsed the school record in the decathlon (6,577 points) Both Custar and Griffith earned Coaches Association All-American honors for their efforts.

The Tigers’ 4x800-meter relay team of Dane Dewitt, T.J. Mapp, David Phillips, and Brice Irving ran incredible splits and finished third with a time of 7:44.90. The runners were named NJCAA Honorable Mention All-Americans.

Irving and Dustin Mettler also ran well in the 1,500-meter run and garnered Coaches Association All-American Honors.

While, freshman Charles James, who was not seeded in the top-10 in the shot put entering the national meet, came through with a season-best shot put of 51-11 1/4 to place fourth and earn Coaches Association All-American honors.

Cowley’s pole vaulters also performed well and helped score points for the team. Freshmen Michael McLeod and Rick Valcin each cleared 15-3 in the event, and McLeod earned Coaches Association All-American honors for his efforts. Sophomore Mark Butler cleared 14-9 and placed 11th in the pole vault.

Phillip Banowetz (5,000-meter run) and Tyson Christensen (10,000-meter run) also ran well and were named Coaches Association All-Americans in their events.

With the large group of sophomores helping Cowley run its streak of indoor and outdoor conference titles to four years in a row, and leading the squad to an 11th place national finish indoors and a sixth place finish during the outdoor season, Phillips is proud of the sophomores accomplishments.

“This sophomore class as a whole committed themselves to do the things we asked of them and led by example,” Phillips said. “They are all incredible kids and have meant so much to this program.”

Cowley will return 15 athletes that gained valuable experience as freshmen and contributed to the team’s success.

“We have got some awfully good freshmen coming back,” Phillips said.

Cowley results:

  • 800-meter run — Jory Custar, 1:51.73, fifth, school record, Coaches Association All-American.
  • 1,500-meter run — Brice Irving, 4:03.91, fourth, Coaches Association All-American; Dustin Mettler, 4:04.92, sixth, Coaches Association All-American.
  • 3,000-meter steeplechase – Isbek Salinas, 10:04.76, 11th; Colin Jokisch, 10:23.30, 14th.
  • 5,000-meter run — Phillip Banowetz, 16:16.18, 10th, Coaches Association All-American; Josh Gracia, 16:18.67, 11th; Mettler, 17:06.29, 20th.
  • 10,000-meter run – Tyson Christensen, 32:37.77, 11th, Coaches Association All-American; Banowetz, 32:39.24, 12th, Coaches Association All-American.
  • High jump – Vondrell Harris, 7-0 ½, second, NJCAA Second-Team All-American, Coaches Association All-American; Mac Griffith, 6-8 ¾, 12th.
  • Pole vault — Michael McLeod, 15-3, fifth, Coaches Association All-American; Rick Valcin, 15-3, sixth; Mark Butler, 14-9, 11th.
  • Triple jump — Harris, 47-9 ¾, 13th.
  • Discus — Charles James — 133-4, 18th.
  • Hammer — Mason Putman, 153-4, 11th.
  • Shot put — James, 51-11 ¼, fourth, Coaches Association All-American.
  • Decathlon — Griffith, 6,577 points, fourth, school record, Coaches Association All-American.
  • 4x800-meter relay — Dane Dewitt, T.J. Mapp, David Phillips, and Brice Irving, 7:44.90, third, NJCAA

Honorable Mention All-American.
Top-10 team scores: (1) South Plains, 142; (2) Central Arizona, 88; (3) Barton County, 80; (4) Iowa Central, 74; (5) Rend Lake, 52 ½; (6) Cowley, 43; (7) Coffeyville, 42; (8) Mesa, 38; (9) Iowa Western, 35; (10) Paradise Valley, 33 ½.