Men's Track and Field | 5/10/2024 10:50:00 AM

Emporia State Track & Field 
at Concordia Twilight
Bulldog Stadium • Seward, Neb.
Friday, May 10, 2024 | 12:00 p.m. Field • 4:30 Track
Live Results: Black Squirrel Timing Live Video: Concordia Track & Field YouTube 
at Loper Twilight
Kearney HS Stadium • Kearney, Neb.
Saturday, May 11, 2024 | 2:00 p.m. Field • 5:00 Track
Live Results: Heartland Timing Live Video: The MIAA Network 
Complete Notes in pdf
Up Next: NCAA Championships
Welch Stadium/Witten Track • Emporia, Kan.
Thursday-Saturday, May 23-25, 2024

LAST CHANCE 
Emporia State will send a few athletes to Last Chance qualifying meets this weekend in Nebraska with the hopes of improving their provisional qualifying marks and making it into the NCAA Outdoor Championships later this month at Welch Stadium/Witten Track. 

WHO QUALIFIES
Eligible student-athletes meeting a provisional standard will be placed on a descending-order list for each event. The national committee will select student-athletes from the declared descending-order list to fill the fields to their desired minimum field sizes of 20 for individual events, 16 for combined events and 14 for relays. In order to control field sizes and the length of the championships, the committee has implemented maximum field sizes of 24 for individual events, 18 for relays and 16 for combined events. Ties will be broken at the next position to be selected. 
If each event has been filled to its desired minimum field size and the number of student-athletes has not exceeded 377, the committee will compare the strength of all events and will add participants based on event strength until the maximum number of student-athletes (377 per gender) or maximum field size has been reached. If the field exceeds the maximum number of participants (377 per gender) after filling each event with the desired minimum field sizes, the committee will remove participants from all events. If in doing this, the number of participants drops below the maximum (377 per gender), the committee will add one participant to the strongest event, based on strength of the field. The strength of event will be recalculated and this process will continue until the maximum number of participants (377 per gender) or the maximum field size has been reached. The national committee may add the next student-athlete on the descending-order list to the field of an event if that student-athlete already has been accepted into the meet in another event and the addition of that student-athlete does not lengthen the meet. Only student-athletes declared properly during the designated declaration periods will be considered when filling fields.

THE COACH
Seth Mischke is in his first year as the head coach for the Emporia State track and field programs. The Hornets have produced four MIAA individual champions and an All-American under his leadership. He spent last year at Chadron State. Eagle throwers earned five All-America awards and four RMAC Championships. Prior to Chadron State, Mischke spent 11 seasons as the head track and field coach and assistant cross country coach at Black Hills State University. The Yellow Jackets produced two individual national champions, 18 All-America earners, 18 conference champions, and more than 100 All-RMAC honorees under his guidance. Mischke was the head track and field/cross country coach at St. Cloud State for 12 years. During his tenure at SCSU, the Huskies had 44 All-Americans and one national champion. 

HORNETS IN THE TOP 20 NATIONALLY
Emporia State has eight provisional marks ranked in the top 20 nationally and 18 total provisional qualifiers.
MIAA Champion Travis Morrison is the top ranked Hornet. His mark of 18.57m (60-11.25) at the ESU Relays is the fifth best shot in the nation.
Mele Taula is in the top 16 in two events for the Emporia State women.  She is eighth in the javelin with a school record throw of 46.84m (153-8) at the Gorilla Classic and is 16th with a mark of 15.02m (49-3.50) in the shot put at the KU Relays.
Jake Johnson is 12th in the nation with a time of 51.65 in the men's 400m hurdles at the MIAA Championships.
Ty Anderson ran 10.29 in the 100m at the Midwest Classic to rank 13th nationally.
Abigael Reid ran 1:00.33 at the MIAA Championships to rank 17th in the women's 400m hurdles.
Kingsley Bennett, Ty Anderson, Isaac Tarango and Carter Cox's time of 40.33 is the 19th fastest 4x100m in the nation and is the 16th rated school.
Aren Trost is 20th nationally after scoring 6595 points in the decathlon at the Midwest Classic. 

HOW TOUGH IS IT?
The MIAA has four men's teams and five women's teams ranked in the top 25 of the USTFCCCA National Power Rankings.  There are nine women's teams in the top 50 and 10 of the 12 association members are ranked in the top 60 with all 12 schools among the 155 ranked women's teams.  The MIAA has eighth men's teams in the top 40 while 10 of the 11 men's programs in the conference are ranked in the top 85 among the 159 men's teams ranked this week. The Hornet men are ranked #36 while the women are #56 this week.
The MIAA has the top mark in the nation in eight events - five men and three women - and the second best mark in four events - two women and two women - with student-athletes for eight different men's teams and four women's teams ranked in the top five nationally. The Association has at least two top 20 marks in 35 of the 42 contested events in the NCAA Championship program.
MIAA schools have the top event squad ranking in six men's events and five women's events and rank second in four men's and three women's events.
Eight of the top ten men's teams in the USTFCCCA Central Region are from the MIAA with the Hornets ranked tenth this week. For the women five of the top ten teams are MIAA members with Emporia State ranked #16 out of 36 squads this week.

OUTDOOR QUALIFIERS
Emporia State has 16 individual and two relay team provisional qualifiers.
For the men Travis Morrison had a mark of 18.57m (60-11.25 at the ESU Relays to rank fifth in the nation in the shot put.
Jake Johnson was clocked in 51.655 in the 400m hurdles at the MIAA Championships to rank 12th nationally.
Ty Anderson ran 10.29 at the Midwest Classic to rank 13th and Kingsley Bennett ran 10.37 at the Gorilla Classic to rank 24th in the nation in the 100m. They combined with Isaac Tarango and Carter Cox to run 40.33 in the 4x100m relay in the MIAA Championships to rank 19th nationally among relays but are the 16th ranked school when taking out other combinations. Anderson is also ranked 29th in the nation in the long jump after going 7.43m (24-4.5) at the MIAA Championships.
Xavier Hall ran 14.04 in the 110m hurdles at the MIAA Championships and is ranked 22nd in nation.
Trenden Collins is 22nd in the nation in the high jump after clearing 2.11m (6-11) at the Gorilla Classic.
Aren Trost scored 6595 points at the Midwest Classic to rank 20th in the nation in the decathlon
Three Hornets are provisionally qualified in the discus. Antonio Cooper is ranked 25th in the discus with a throw of 52.13m (171-0) at the FHSU Spring Invite. At the Rock Chalk Classic Zach Sulzen Watson threw 51.06m (167-6) to rank 32nd while Connor Deters had a mark of 50.62m (166-1) to rank 36th nationally.
The 4x400m relay team of Jack Watson, Isaac Tarango, Carter Cox and Jake Johnson are ranked 35th in the nation among all relays and the 21st ranked school after running 3:11.87 at the Midwest Classic.
Aidan Hicks threw 59.23m (194-4) at the MIAA Championships to rank 45th nationally in the javelin.
For the women Mele Taula is eighth in the nation with a school record 46.84m (153-8) in the javelin at the Gorilla Classic She is also 16th in the nation in the shot put with a throw of 15.02m (49-3.5) at the KU Relays.
Abigael Reid is ranked 17th in the nation in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:00.33 at the MIAA Championships.
Madison Vermetten is 22nd in the nation in the discus with a mark of 46.77m (153-5) at the Rock Chalk Classic.

EVENT SQUAD RANKINGS
Emporia State has 12 event squads ranked in the top 25 nationally, ten for the men and two 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 shot put squad is ranked second in the nation. Travis Morrison's provisional qualifying mark of 18.57m  is fourth in the nation to lead the group. He is joined by Zach Sulzen-Watson at 16.19m, Antonio Cooper at 15.73m and Will Herren at 15.60m, as all four have gone at least 51 feet in the shot.
Emporia State has three provisional qualifiers for the third ranked discus group. Antonio Cooper has a provisional qualifier of 52.13m, Zach Sulzen-Watson has a 51.06m and Connor Deters went 50.62m to hit provisional marks. Will Herren joins them at 50.35m as all four have gone over 50 meters.
Ty Anderson and Kingsley Bennett's provisional qualifiers lead the sixth ranked men's 100m squad.  Anderson ran 10.29 at the Midwest Classic while Bennett turned in a 10.37 at the Gorilla Classic.  They are joined by Xavier Hall with a 10.63 at the ESU Relays and Isaac Tarango at 10.64 at the Gorilla Classic.
Xavier Hall ran a provisional qualifier of 14.04 at the MIAA Championships to top the 1th ranked men's 110m hurdles group. He is joined by Jake Johnson who was clocked in 14.71, Aren Trost with a 15.25, and Coby Smith who ran 15.63 for the Hornets. Hall has run a wind aided 13.98 that is not counted in the group.
Trenden Collins provisional qualifier of 2.11m at the Gorilla Classic leads the men's high jump group. Jaxon Russell cleared 1.95m, while Luke Grace and Carter Wagner each went over 1.93m at the MIAA Championships to rank 13th in the nation as a group.
Aaron Hunt cleared 4.76m at the Gorilla Classic to rank third all-time at ESU in the men's pole vault. He is joined on the 16th ranked pole vault group by Max Neeley who is over 4.68m, Coby Smith with a 4.48m and Aren Trost who has cleared 4.20m in the vault.
The foursome of Aidan Hicks with a provisional toss of 59.23m at the MIAA Championships, Mitch Budke at 51.92m, Jett Harvey with a 51.52m, and Aren Trost at 50.89m  combine to rank 20th in the nation in the javelin event squad rankings.
Jake Johnson has a provisional qualifying time of 51.655 at the MIAA Championships and is joined by Brandon Wilkes at 54.14, Logan Albers with a 59.47 and Tyler DeBey at 1:00.93 on the 22nd ranked men's 400m hurdles squad.
The 22nd ranked men's triple jump group is made up of Josiah Driggers who went 14.30m at the MIAA Championships, Miles Lockridge at 13.55m, Garrett Meyer with a 12.72m and Daniel Knapp at 12.15m for the Hornets.
Ty Anderson had a provisional qualifying jump of 7.43m and Luke Grace went 6.90m at the MIAA Championships to lead the 24th ranked men's long jump squad. Fabian Nava at 6.85m and Josiah Driggers at 6.66m round out the group.
For the women Abigael Reid's provisional qualifier of 1:00.33 at the MIAA Championships leads the 400m hurdle group that is ranked eighth in the nation. She is joined by Kennedy Smith with a 1:03.93, Isabel Vikoler at 1:05.48 and Mary Grace Lassiter who was timed in 1:08.61 for Emporia State.
Mele Taula had a provisional qualifier of 15.02m at the KU Relays to lead the 24th ranked women's shot put squad. She is joined by Emma Seidl at 13.20m, Tailynn Buettgenbach at 12.24m and Scarlett Begley with an 8.76m in the MIAA heptathlon shot.

AT THE MIAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Emporia State men finished fifth while the ESU women were 11th overall at the MIAA Championships.
Sunday
Hornet sophomore Ty Anderson ended up as the high point scorer for the meet with 19.5 points. He won the 100m, was a member of the third place 4x100m relay team and finished second in the long jump on Saturday to capture the honor.  His time of 10.33 in the 100m set a facility record and is another provisional qualifier for the NCAA Championships. He joined Kinglsey Bennett, Isaac Tarango and Carter Cox to run a provisional qualifier of 40.33 and place third in the 4x100m relay. Bennett joined Anderson on the podium in the 100m as he ran a provisional qualifier of 10.49 to place third.
Travis Morrison completed the sweep of the indoor and outdoor titles with a throw of 17.91m (58-09.35) in the shot put.  
The men's 4x400m relay team of Jack Watson, Isaac Tarango, Carter Cox and Jake Johnson ran a provisional qualifying time of 3:12.02 to finish second. 
Johnson turned in the second fastest time in Emporia State history in the 400m hurdles. He was clocked in 51.65 to place third.
Xavier Hall ran a provisional qualifying time of 14.08 to place fourth in the 110m hurdles.
Trenden Collins cleared a provisional qualifying bar of 2.08m (6-09.75) to place sixth in the high jump.
Tyler Swift rounded out the Hornet scoring on Sunday, running 3:52.18 to place seventh in the 1500m.
Aidan Hicks had the final provisional qualifier for the Emporia State men. He threw 59.23m (194-04) to place ninth in the javelin.
Mele Taula scored in two events with two provisional qualifiers for the Emporia State women.  She was fourth in the shot put with a toss of 14.51m (47-07.25) after placing eighth with a throw of 42.06m (138-00) in the javelin.
Abigael Reid ran a provisional qualifier of 1:00.33 to place fifth in the 400m hurdles. 
Ashley Wildeman ran the fourth fastest time in Emporia State history in the 100m as she was clocked in 11.86 to place seventh.
Wildeman teamed with Kadaisha Mpwo, Clarice Nichols and Lauren Carlson to run 47.22 and finish eighth in the 4x100m relay to round out the Hornet scoring.
Saturday
Ty Anderson had a big day on Saturday for the Hornets. The sophomore from Burlington, Kan. qualified for the finals in the men's 100m dash with a time of 10.38 and then had a personal best of 7.43m (24-04.50) to finish second in the long jump. He was just behind teammate Kingsley Bennett in the 100m prelims as Bennett qualified for the finals by winning their heat with a time of 10.38 also. The tie was broken down to the thousandths with Bennett running 10.374 while Anderson was clocked in 10.376 to finish second.
Aren Trost started the day for the Hornets with a sixth place finish in the decathlon. He had another strong second day to move up three spots in the standings from day one.  He had the second best time in the 110m hurdles at 15.33 and cleared 4.18m to finish third in the pole vault portion of the competition.  He threw 32.84 in the discus and ran a season's best 4:47.16 in the 1500m to place fourth in both events.  He finished with a provisional qualifying total of 6,401 points. Luke Grace just missed the scoring column, finishing in ninth place with 5.998 points.  Coby Smith placed 12th overall with 5,503 points that included a best of 4.48m to win the pole vault competition.
Connor Deters picked up the other points in the team scoring on Saturday for Emporia State. He threw 48.76m (159-11) to place seventh in the discus.
Jake Johnson had the top prelim time in the 400m hurdles. He ran a provisional qualifier of 52.54 to head into Sunday's final.
Xavier Hall ran a provisional qualifier of 14.04 to advance to Sunday's finals of the 110m hurdles with the sixth best time.
The Emporia State women had one person score and one advance to Sunday's finals.
Madison Vermetten threw 49.68m (163-00) to place eighth in the hammer and get the Hornets on the scoreboard.
Ashley Wildeman advanced to the finals of the 100m by just .003 in front of teammate Lauren Carlson. They were both clocked in 11.92 along with Pittsburg State's Jamiya Morgan in the first heat of the prelims.  After review to the thousands of a second it was judged that Morgan ran 11.912 to place seventh, Wildeman 11.913 to place eighth and Carlson 11.916 to place ninth and just miss the finals.
   
HORNET INDOOR QUALIFIERS
Emporia State had 12 provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Championships this season. 
Travis Morrison advanced to the NCAA Championships with a mark of 18.63m (61-1.5) to win the MIAA title in the men's shot put.
Mele Taula made the national championships with a mark of 14.83m (48-8) to win the MIAA Championship in the women's shot put. She was also a provisional qualifier in the weight throw with a mark of 17.55m (57-7) at the Ichabod Invitational to rank 34th nationally.
Ty Anderson was ranked 23rd in the nation after running a 6.76 in the 60m at the MIAA Championships and was ranked 70th in the long jump after going 7.13m (23-4.75) at the MIAA Championships.
Aren Trost scored 4951 points at the MIAA Championships to rank 28th in the nation in the heptathlon while Coby Smith scored 4731 points at the Washburn Open to rank 47th in the multi-event.
Trenden Collins cleared 2.07m (6-9.5) at the Maverick Premier to rank 35th in the high jump in the nation. 
Kingsley Bennett was 37th in the nation after running 6.79 in the MIAA Championships 60m.
Jack Watson ran a converted 48.08 at the Maverick Premier to rank 39th in the 400m.
Carter Cox was ranked 54th nationally in the 200m with a converted time of 21.63 in the 200m at the Maverick Premier.
Watson and Cox teamed with Isaac Tarango and Jake Johnson to run 3:14.39 to rank 43rd in the nation in the 4x400m relay.
The MIAA had seven men's teams finish in the top 30 of the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships including the national champions while six women's teams placed in the top 30. The conference had 100 First-Team All-Americans and ten individual national champions crowned at the indoor championships with nine teams scoring in both the men's and women's competition.
 
TRACK TITLE TOWN
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
The NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field National Championships will be held in Emporia, Kan. at Welch Stadium and Witten Track on May 23-25.