Men's Track and Field | 4/24/2019 10:32:00 AM

Emporia State Track & Field
at Drake Relays
Drake Stadium • Des Moines, Iowa
Thursday, April 25 • Friday, April 26 • Saturday, April 27 at 10:40 a.m.
Live Results: results.drakerelays.us Video: www.usatf.tv
at Kip Janvrin Open
Buxton Stadium • Indianola, Iowa
Friday, April 26 at 12:00 p.m.
Live Results: blacksquirreltiming.com Video: None
Up Next: MIAA Championships
Walton Stadium • Warrensburg, Mo. • Friday - Sunday, May 3-5, 2019

IS THIS HEAVEN?
Emporia State will spend the final weekend before the MIAA Championships competing in Iowa at the Drake Relays and Kip Janvrin Open.

LAST LAP
Carey McLeod made his outdoor debut in spectacular fashion, finishing second in the men's long jump in near record fashion to highlight Emporia State's action at the KU Relays.
McLeod, who has been hampered by a foot injury since the indoor season, fouled his first two attempts in the men's long jump before unleashing a jump of 25-00.75 (5.64m) on his final jump of the prelims. On his first attempt of the finals he had a wind aided mark of 25-03.25 (7.70m) to place second. Jared Reinke ran a season's best 1:55.18 to place fourth in the men's 800m.  Luke Stenzel coasted to a time of 49.92 in the men's 400m to place eighth after running a season's best 47.80 in the prelims.  The men's 4x400m relay team of Brandon Rhone, Hayden Goodpaster, Parker Evans and Stenzel ran a provisional qualifier of 3:10.96 in the prelims. Reinke replaced Stenzelin the finals as they ran 3:20.25 to place fourth.
For the women Brianna Schmitz overcame a lingering leg injury to place second in the heptathlon with a provisional qualifying mark of 4,768 points while Leah Nelson ran 2:16.03 to finish second in the 800m. Jazmin Williams went 18-10.00 (5.74m) to place seventh in the long jump. Hannah Shield ran 11.98 to qualify for the finals in the 100m dash where she ran 12.01 to place ninth.
The Hornet throwers competed at the Mule Relays.  Madelyn Hayes had the best finish for Emporia State with a throw of 131-10 (40.19m) to place third in the women's javelin.

THE COACH
Steven Blocker is in his eighth year as the head coach for the Emporia State track and field/cross country programs. He served as an assistant with the Hornets beginning in 2009 working primarily with the sprinters, jumpers and multi-event athletes. He has produced 62 All-Americans and 30 MIAA Champions as head coach after coaching 14 All-Americans, six MIAA Champions and an NCAA Division II National Champion as an assistant for the Hornets.

RANKINGS
The USTFCCCA uses provisional and automatic qualifiers to determine national rankings while all marks are available for the regional rankings, provided the coach is a member of the USTFCCCA. Emporia State's men jumped 95 spots up to #43 and the women are #72 in the USTFCCCA Division II Outdoor Track & Field National Rankings. There are 149 men's and 151 women's teams in this week's national rankings out of the over 200 Division II schools that sponsor track & field. The Hornet men are ranked 14th in the Central Region this week while the women are ranked 20th.  

BY POSITION
The USTFCCCA Event Squad rankings places a rank order to a program's "squad" of athletes in a particular event, using the cumulative season-best qualifying marks from a team's top-four ranked athletes. A team must have four or more athletes with a valid season-best mark recorded with TFRRS to achieve a ranking in a particular event. Thanks in part to a strong multi-event group, the Hornets have seven events ranked in the top 30 nationally with four in the top 25.
For the men the 400m quartet of Luke Stenzel, Parker Evans, Hayden Goodpaster and Wyatt Seidel are ranked ninth in the nation. The 400m hurdle group of Seidel, Davion Scott, Brandon Wilkes and Tanner Raubenstine is ranked 18th while Carey McLeod, Raubenstine, Seidel and Wilkes are ranked 21st in the long jump.
The Emporia State women's javelin quartet of Madelyn Hayes, Morgan Cape, Madison Orton  and Brianna Schmitz is ranked 13th nationally.  

QUALIFIERS
Emporia State currently has four provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. The men's 4x400m relay team of Brandon Rhone, Hayden Goodpaster, Parker Evens and Luke Stenzel is fifth in the nation. Carey McCleod is fifth in the nation in the men's long jump while Jazmin Williams is ranked 11th in the nation in the women's long jump. Brianna Schmitz is ranked 13th in the nation in the heptathlon.

IN THE BLOCKS
The Hornets will head to Warrensburg, Mo. to take part in the MIAA Championships from May 3-5.

HOW TOUGH IS IT?
The MIAA has eight men's teams and seven women's teams ranked in the top 50 nationally. The league has five top event groups in the nation for the women from three different schools and the men have the top event group in three events from three schools. Nine women's teams and eight men's teams have at least one event group ranked in the top ten in the nation. The MIAA has seven men's and four women's teams ranked in the top ten of the Central Region.

DEPTH OF FIELD
The Hornets have a total of 14 men's and seven women's event groups ranked nationally. Their combined total of 21 event groups rank third in the MIAA behind Central Missouri's 25 and Fort Hays State's 23 event groups ranked. For comparison, Lincoln - who's women are ranked third and men sixth in the USTFCCCA National Rankings - have just five women's event groups and four men's event groups ranked.

LAST YEAR'S DRAKE RELAYS
The Emporia State track and field team won another championship and picked up three provisional qualifiers on Saturday at the 109th Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
The men's 4x400m relay team of Parker Evans, Luke Stenzel, Duke Tibbs, and Taysean Goodwin ran a school record 3:08.69 to capture their first Drake Relays title in the event since 2000. The Hornets won in front of a crowd of 14,504 at Drake Stadium breaking a school record that had stood since 1999. Brent Smitheren, Corey Cole, Shawn Fairbanks, and Luke Pickett ran 3:08.89 to place second at the NCAA Championships on the Zola Witten Track at Welch Stadium that year.
With the win, Emporia State joined Central Missouri as the only schools with two relay victories in the college division at Drake this year.
The women's 4x100m relay ran a provisional time of 46.48 to finish second to MIAA foe Lincoln. Jazmin Williams, Hannah Shield, Malacia Lee, and Latiyera Yeargin had the fourth best time in Emporia State history in the event.
Thomas LaRoche continued his outstanding senior campaign with a provisional qualifier of 1:51.06 in the men's 800m after anchoring the Hornets 4x800m relay to a championship on Friday.
Wyatt Sander just missed a provisional mark in the men's 400m hurdles.  His time of 53.56 placed him 20th at Drake and was just .01 seconds from the provisional standard.
The distance medley relay team of Cole Bosley, Brandon Rhone, Murad Baheyadeen, and Jared Reinke ran 10:06.64 to place eighth.
Alec Garcia wrapped up the Hornet placers on Saturday with a throw of 156-01 (47.57m) to place 16th in the discus.
Emporia State won one event and qualified for the finals in three others on Friday at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.
Emporia State returned the victory stand in the men's college 4x800 relay for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 1990-91. The foursome of Jared Reinke, Cole Bosley, Murad Baheyadeen, Thomas LaRoche were clocked in 7:34.35 to pick up their second win of the season after capturing the title at the KU Relays last weekend.
The other men's final on the track was the sprint medley relay.  Taysean Goodwin, Duke Tibbs, Luke Stenzel, and LaRoche ran 3:25.31 to place second.
Colin Coleman, Goodwin, Malcolm Dade, and Jordan Reed ran 41.11 to miss the provisional qualifying standard in Division II by .01 seconds while turning in the top time on the day at Drake.
The women's sprint medley relay team of Hannah Shield, Latiyera Yeargin, Elizabeth Blevins, and Leah Nelson ran 4:05.37 to place fourth in the only final on the track for Emporia State.
Jazmin Williams, Shield, Malacia Lee, and Yeargin had the third best time of 46.95 for Emporia State in the women's 4x100m relay prelims. Five of the top six placers in the prelims were MIAA schools.
In the field event finals that Emporia State participated in, Jazmin Williams placed eighth with a leap of 18-09.75 (5.73m) in the women's long jump while Alec Garcia's mark of 51-09.25 (15.78m) was good for 23rd in the men's shot put.
 
ESU RECORD HOLDERS AND TOP FIVE PERFORMERS
A combined ten active members of the Hornet men's and women's track and field teams are ranked in the top five of an event at Emporia State. Jazmin Williams is a individual event school record holder and is joined by Hannah Shield on a school record relay for the women while Parker Evans and Luke Stenzel are half of a school record relay team for the men.

HORNETS CURRENTLY IN THE TOP FIVE OUTDOORS
Men
400m
Luke Stenzel ran 46.90 at the 2018 MIAA Championships to rank third all-time in the 400m for Emporia State.
4x100m Relay
Jordan Reed has run on two of the top five 4x100m relays at Emporia State. He was the third leg along with Colin Coleman, Taysean Goodwin and Duke Tibbs on the team that ran 40.55 at the 2018 NCAA Championships that ranks fourth all-time at Emporia State.  Malcom Dade ran third and handed off to Reed on the team that ran 40.62 at the 2017 Rumble in the Jungle Qualifier to rank fifth at Emporia State.
4x400m Relay
Parker Evans has led off three of the top five 4x400m relays in Emporia State history. He teamed with Luke Stenzel, Duke Tibbs and Taysean Goodwin to set the school record of 3:08.69 at the 2018 Drake Relays.
Long Jump
Carey McLeod went 25-03.25 (7.70m) at the KU Relays to rank second all-time at Emporia State in the long jump.
Women
100m
Hannah Shield ran 11.80 at the 2018 Sam Williams Qualifier to rank fourth all-time at Emporia State in the 100m.
4x100m Relay
Jazmin Williams and Hannah Shield made up the first half of the Emporia State school record 4x100m relay team. They joined Malacia Lee and Latiyera Yeargin to run 46.14 at the 2018 MIAA Championships.
Pole Vault
Iva Shepherd is ranked second at Emporia State in the pole vault after clearing 12-00.75 at the 2017 MIAA Championships.
Long Jump
Jazmin Williams went set the Emporia State record in the long jump with a mark of 20-03.00 at the 2017 NCAA Championships.
Heptathlon
Brianna Schmitz moved into third on the Hornets all-time list in the heptathlon with a total of 4,969 points earlier this year at the Herm Wilson Multi-event.