Men's Track and Field | 5/11/2023 5:02:00 PM

Emporia State Track & Field
at
PSU Last Chance to Host a Meet Qualifier
Prentice Gudgen Track/Carnie Smith Stadium • Pittsburg, Kan.
Friday, May 12
Field at 2:00 pm/Track at 4:00 pm
Live Results: midwesttiming.com Video: None
Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: at NCAA Championships
Neta & Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl  • Pueblo, Colo.
Thursday-Saturday, May 25-27, 2023

LAST CHANCE
Emporia State will send a select number of athletes to Pittsburg for the Last Chance to Host a Meet Qualifier.

LAST LAP
Emporia State had 27 people score points at the MIAA Track and Field Championships.  As a team the men placed ninth with 44.5 points while the women were tenth with 23 points.
Aren Trost finished second with a provisional qualifier of 6582 points while Brandon Wilkes finished fifth with 6103 points in the decathlon.
Travis Morrison finished second with a provisional qualifying mark of 17.80m and Will Herren turned in a personal best of 16.07m to place seventh in the men's shot put.
In the 400m hurdles Brock Merz ran 54.01 to place fourth, Davion Scott was sixth in 54.13 while Chase Rooney ran 1:00.23 to finish eighth.
Brooks Lowe threw the javelin 61.94m to finish third with a provisional qualifier.
Xavier Hall ran a season's best 14.55 to place seventh in the men's 110m hurdles.
Kingsley Bennett, Carter Cox, Jack Watson and Isaac Tarango ran 41.19 to place seventh in the 4x100m relay while Guy Ramos, Watson, Merz, and Julian Johnson combined for a time of 3:14.55 to place seventh in the 4x400m relay.
Aaron Hunt cleared a season's best 4.51m (14-9.5) to tie for eighth in the pole vault. Asher Moen placed eighth with a time of 9:36.73 in the 3000m steeplechase.
Alyssa Conway had a provisional qualifier of 58.37m to finish second in the women's hammer.
Holly Brockmeier was the runner-up with a provisional qualifier of 43.56m in the javelin.
Megan McManis cleared a provisional qualifier of 3.81m to place seventh in the pole vault.
Jasmine Hurla ran 58.16 to place eighth in the women's 400m run and joined Kadaisha Mpwo, Lauren Carlson, and Ashley Wildeman as the anchor of the 4x100m relay team that ran a season's best 47.33 to place seventh.
Victoria Pettay finished in eighth place in the heptathlon with a career best of 4097 points.
Ashley Cookson had a season's best of 10.80 to place eighth in the women's triple jump.

THE COACH
Steven Blocker is in his 12th year as the head coach for the Emporia State men's and women's track and field 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 66 All-Americans and 42 MIAA Champions as a head coach after coaching 14 All-Americans, six MIAA Champions and an NCAA Division II National Champion as an assistant at ESU.

LAST YEAR'S LAST CHANCE
In the final regular season action of the season Emporia State came away with two provisional qualifiers, four top three finishes and four personal bests at the Loper Twilight last chance meet in Kearney, Neb.
Travis Morrison had a season's best 17.10m (56-1.25) to provisionally qualify in the men's shot put. He placed third in Kearney and moved into the top 25 nationally.
Alyssa Conway added to her list of provisional qualifiers with a toss of 56.35m (184-10) to place third in the women's hammer. It was her third mark of over 55m in the event this year as she sits tenth on the national list with a few meets left to report.
Brock Merz was second in the men's 400m hurdles in a time of 55.28 after running a personal best of 15.05 in the 110m hurdles to place sixth earlier in the meet.
Xavier Hall competed in three events and came away with two personal bests.  He ran a PR of 21.93 to place fifth in the men's 200m and after getting a personal best of 10.93 for a 12th place finish in the 100m. He placed fifth in the 110m hurdles in 14.95 to start the day.  
Carter Cox ran a personal best of 22.13 to place ninth in the men's 200m and ran 50.45 to place 11th in the 400m.
Abigael Reid placed third with a time of 1:02.54 while Mary Grace Lassiter was sixth with a time of 1:09.21 in the women's 400m hurdles.
Kaleb Barber was sixth with a leap of 6.67m (21-10.75) in the men's long jump.
Holly Brockmeier had a throw of 39.46m (129-5) to place eighth in the women's javelin.

HOW TOUGH IS IT?
There are six men's teams and six women's teams ranked in the top 20 of the latest USTFCCCA National Power Rankings with nine men's and eight women's teams in the top 40 of 138 schools ranked. The MIAA makes up eight of the top 11 spots in the men's Central Regional Rankings and seven of the top ten in the women's Regional Rankings. The Emporia State men are ranked #40 in the nation and #11 in the region while the Hornet women are #55 nationally and ranked #18 in the region.
MIAA student-athletes have the top ranked mark in the nation in 11 events, five for the men and six for the women. The association has a total of 43 marks that rank in the top five nationally in 27 of the 42 events on the national championship calendar. The men have 23 top marks in 15 events representing nine of the 11 schools while the women have 20 top five marks representing eight of 12 schools in 12 events. The MIAA has 87 total top ten marks with 46 men's marks in 19 events representing nine schools and 41 women's marks from nine schools in 16 events.
The Association has four schools representing five of the top ranked men's event squads in Division II and two schools with one of the top ranked women's event groupings.
The MIAA had six men's teams finish in the top 25 of the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships including the national champions while four womens teams placed in the top 25. The conference had 74 First-Team All-Americans and nine national champions crowned at the indoor championships.

ESU OUTDOOR QUALIFIERS
The Hornets have 13 provisional qualifiers heading into the final weekend of competition.
Travis Morrison became just the third Emporia State male to go over 61 feet in the men's shot put with his 18.71 (61-4.75) at the Rock Chalk Classic to rank fourth nationally.
Alyssa Conway went a school record 59.31m (194-7) in the women's hammer at the Kansas Relays to rank seventh in the nation.
Brooks Lowe threw 67.39m (221-1) in the men's javelin at the ESU Midwest Classic to rank eighth in the nation.
Megan McManis is ranked 20th in the nation in the women's pole vault after clearing a school record 3.90m (12-9.5) at the Midwest Classic.
Aren Trost scored 6,582 points in the decathlon at the MIAA Championships to rank 22nd nationally.
Holly Brockmeier is 24th in the women's javelin with her mark of 43.56m (142-11) at the MIAA Championships.
Abigael Reid had two provisional qualifiers for Emporia State before getting injured. She is 24th in the women's 400m hurdles after running 1:01.17 at the Gorilla Classic and is 27th in the women's heptathlon with 4,712 points scored at the ESU Relays. She is not expected to compete the rest of the season.
The Hornets have four men qualified in the 400m hurdles. Brock Merz is 33rd in the nation with a time of 52.81 at the MIAA Championships while Chase Rooney ran 52.86 at the MIAA Championships to rank 35th nationally.  Davion Scott turned in a 53.24 at the David Suenram Gorilla Classic to rank 39th in the nation.  Jake Johnson is ranked 43rd after running a 53.27 at the Midwest Classic.
The men's 4x100m relay team of Kingsley Bennett, Carter Cox, Jack Watson and Isaac Tarango ran 40.89 at the Midwest Classic to rank 52nd in the nation.

HORNET TOP FIVE PERFORMERS
This year's Emporia State team has a combined nine individual marks that are ranked on the Hornet all-time Top Five list including two school record holders.
Alyssa Conway holds the school record in the hammer with a throw of 194-7(59.31m) at the KU Relays this year. She is also tied for fifth in the javelin iwth a mark of 144-5 (44.02m) at the2021 ESU Spring Invite.
Megan McManis set the school record in the women's pole vault when she cleared 12-9.5 (3.90m) at this year's Midwest Classic.
Holly Brockmeier is ranked second in Emporia State history in the women's javelin. She threw 150-1 (45.75m) at last year's NCAA Outdoor National Championships.
Abigael Reid ran 1:01.17 at this year's Gorilla Classic to rank third all-time for Emporia State in the women's 400m hurdles. She scored 4913 points in the heptathlon at last year's MIAA Outdoor Championships to rank fourth in the event.
Travis Morrison is third all-time in the men's shot put with a mark of 61-4.75 (18.71m) set at the 2021 Loper Twilight.
Brooks Lowe's 221-1 (67.39m) in the men's javelin at the Midwest Classic is fifth all-time for Emporia State.
Brock Merz ran 52.88 in the men's 400m hurdles at the Midwest Classic to rank fifth all-time for the Hornets.

EVENT SQUAD RANKINGS
Emporia State has ten event squads ranked in the top 25 nationally - six for the men and four for the women. The event squad rankings take an average of the top four marks in each event and compare them with the other teams in the nation with at least four marks in an event.
The Hornet men's 400m hurdle squad is ranked fifth in the nation with four provisional qualifiers. Brock Merz has a top time of 52.81 followed Chase Rooney at 52.86, Davion Scott at 53.24 and Jake Johnson at 53.27.
Travis Morrison's provisional qualifier of 18.71m (61-4.75) is the top mark of the ninth ranked men's shot put group. Will Herren, Zach Sulzen-Watson, and Aren Trost make up the rest of the squad.
Brooks Lowe's provisional qualifier of 67.39m (221-1) leads the men's tenth ranked javelin unit. He is joined by Aidan Hicks, Jett Harvey and Trost.
Xavier Hall and Jake Johnson have both gone under 15 seconds to lead the 13th ranked 110m hurdle squad and are joined by Merz and Trost.
The foursome of Luke Grace, Jaxon Russell, Trost and Brandon Wilkes are ranked 18th in the nation in the men's high jump.
Kingsley Bennett, Ty Anderson, Carter Cox, and Isaac Tarango have all run 11.70 or better to rank 19th in the nation in the men's 100m event.
Alyssa Conway's school record and provisional qualifier of 59.31m (194-7) leads the tenth ranked women's hammer group for Emporia State. She is joined by Rachelle Reichert, Madison Vermetten  and Holly Brockmeier.
Abigael Reid's provisional qualifier of 1:01.17 leads the Hornets 18th ranked 400m hurdle group. She is joined by Kennedy Smith, Mary Grace Lassiter and Victoria Pettay.
The Emporia State women's high jump group of Chloe Thakker, Pettay ,Grace Jacobs, and Reid are ranked 21st in the nation.
Brockmeier has a provisional qualifier 43.56m (142-11) to lead the 22nd ranked women's javelin squad. She is joined by Bonnie Romig, Reid and Pettay.

HORNET INDOOR QUALIFIERS
Emporia State had six provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Championships this season.
Megan McManis cleared a school record 3.98m (13-0.25) at the Steve Miller Invite to rank #12 in the nation in the women's pole vault.
Travis Morrison went 17.42m (57-2) in the men's shot put at the WU Open to rank 16th nationally and become just the third Hornet to go over 57 feet in the event.
The men's 4x400m relay team of Guy Ramos, Jack Watson, Brock Merz and Hayden Goodpaster ran 3:14.94 at the Crimson & Gold Invitational to rank 31st in the nation. Carter Cox took Ramos's spot at the Wendy's PSU Invite and the Hornets ran 3:16.48 to rank 46th nationally.
Abigael Reid is ranked 29th nationally in the women's pentathlon after scoring 3,423 points at the WU Open & Multis.
Brandon Wilkes scored 4,818 points at the Boo Rogers Multis to rank 33rd in the nation in the men's heptathlon.

JUST OVER A YEAR AWAY
Emporia State's Welch Stadium and Zola Witten Track have been selected as the host site for the 2024 and 2026 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships.  It will be the fourth and fifth time that Welch Stadium has played host to the national championships.
Welch Stadium previously served as the host site for the National Championships in 1995, 1999 and 2006 with the first meet in 1995 bringing 450 student-athletes to Emporia. The 2024 and 2026 meets are scheduled to bring 754 student-athletes, nearly 200 coaches and over 100 officials to the Flint Hills over the Memorial Day weekend.
The 2024 Championships are scheduled for May 23-25.
During championship week, the NCAA Committee will come to Emporia on Monday with the first practice time available on Tuesday.  Wednesday of championship week will see a variety of coaches and officials meetings before the actual competition begin on Thursday.  The meet will wrap up on Saturday evening.

UP NEXT
Next week the Hornets will find out who advances to this year's NCAA Championships in Pueblo, Colo.