Men's Track and Field | 1/17/2014 1:10:00 PM
Meet Notes in pdf
ESU?Track & Field
at Van Nelson Invitational
Halenbeck Hall Fieldhouse • St. Cloud, Minn.
Hosted by St. Cloud State
Saturday, January 18, 2014
11:30 a.m. (Field)/1:00 p.m. (Track)
Next Action: UCM Invite • January 24, 2014 • UCM Multipurpose Building Warrensburg, Mo.
TO THE NORTH
The Emporia State track & field teams will make their first regular season trip to Minnesota for an indoor meet to take part in the Van Nelson Invitational hosted by St. Cloud State. The triangular will consist of the Hornets, the host Huskies, and Concordia-St. Paul.
LAST TIME OUT
Nikki Wetstein had an individual championship and two provisional qualifiers to lead the Emporia State track and field teams at the Mizzou Opener on Friday night in Columbia, Mo. Duke Tibbs, Daniel Claassen and Samuel Saidi all had individual championships for the men's team.
Wetstein won the women's 60m hurdles with a provisional qualifying time of 8.82 and went 18-04.50 (5.60m) to place third in the long jump. She also placed third in the triple jump.
Misty Lowe had a provisional qualifier of 44-11.00 (13.69m) in the shot put. Morgan Gilliland placed second in the women's weight throw and Emporia State had two other third place finishes on the women's field events. Alaina Fairbanks was third in the pole vault and Shelby Buster placed third in the weight throw.
Tibbs won the men's 400m in 50.95 and ran a 22.44 to place second in the 200m for the Hornet men. Claassen won the 800m in 1:59.88 and was also seventh in the mile run. Saidi went 45-04.25 (13.82m) to win the triple jump.
The Hornets had a pair of runner-up finishes as well. Nick Klenda placed second in the shot put while Jonathan Wernli was second to Saidi in the triple jump.
THE?COACH
Steven Blocker is in his third year as the head coach for the Emporia State track and field/cross country programs. He served as an assistant with the Hornets since 2009 working primarily with the sprinters, jumpers and multi-event athletes. He has produced 20 All-Americans and seven MIAA Champions in his first two years as head coach after coaching 14 All-Americans, six MIAA Champions and an NCAA Division II National Champion as an assistant for the Hornets.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Hornet men were ranked #40 and the women #54 in the USTFCCCA Division II Preseason Indoor Track & Field National Team Rankings. The USTFCCCA system ranks all teams with athletes on the Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS). National Team Computer Rankings will be complied by mathematical formulae based on national descending order lists and data taken from previous seasons. For the preseason ranking data was taken from previous seasons as well as the current season.
HOW TOUGH IS IT?
Six MIAA men's teams are ranked in the USTFCCCA National Top 25, while the women have three teams in the top 25 nationally. Nine men's teams from the conference are ranked in the top 60 with nine women's teams in the top 75 nationally. There are a total of 86 men's teams receiving points and 106 women's teams in the computer rankings.
PROVISIONALLED
Five Hornets have already provisionally qualified for the national meet in six events. Nikki Wetstein has three provisional marks all of which rank in the top ten nationally. She is seventh in the 60m hurdles and long jump and ranked ninth in the pentathlon. She is joined in the long jump by Carmen King who is ranked eighth. Alaina Fairbanks is ranked 11th in the pole vault and Misty Lowe is 14th in the shot put. All-American Payson Maydew is the only member of the men's team to reach the provisional mark so far. He is fifth in the heptathlon.
LEADERS
Emporia State has the top time in the MIAA this season in the men's 4x400m relay. Duke Tibbs, Ashton Proctor, John Thurston and Ryan Dickson turned in a 3:22.53 at the K-State Winter Invitational.
UP NEXT
Emporia State will travel to Warrensburg, Mo. for their next two meets starting with the UCM Invite on January 24.
