News

Eagles have good day at RMAC Meet on Tuesday

May 8, 2012

Chadron State's Dean Francis runs during the 200 meters Tuesday at the RMAC Championships in Gunnison, Colo. (Photo by Andy Schlichting/Metro State)

Cody Hunt

Steven Richendifer

Lincoln Proud

GUNNISON, Colo. – Three school records and five firsts in the men’s competition were among the highlights for the Chadron State College track and field team at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championships at Gunnison, Colo., this week.

RMAC Final Results

The CSC men finished third in the team standings with 118 points, up from last year’s 75.5 points. The Eagles’ women were fifth with 70 points.

Coach Ryan Baily said he was “extremely pleased” with his athletes’ performances.

“We competed very well and had some really good things happen,” Baily said. “We’ve had quite a few injuries and some ups and downs this spring, but we put a lot of things together really well for this meet.”

The Eagles’ had a major highlight early Monday, when Cody Hunt improved his own school record by more than three feet and set a conference record by throwing the shot 63-4 ¾.

On Tuesday, three more CSC men joined Hunt in the winners’ circle.

They included sophomore Dean Francis, who won both the 100 and 200 meters with times of 10.52 and 21.40 seconds.  Also, senior Lincoln Proud lowered his school record by more than a second while winning the 400 hurdles in 52.49 seconds and sophomore Steven Richendifer, cleared 15-3 in the pole vault to become the conference’s undisputed kingpin in that event this year.

The Sterling, Colo., native also was the pole vault champion at the RMAC Indoor Meet in March.

Besides the school records that Hunt and Proud set, the Eagles improved the school’s 4x400 relay record that had stood since 2006 to 3:16.06. Proud ran the first leg and was followed by Gavan Archibald, Brandon Segelke and Fred Culp. The Eagles were fourth in the relay, but Baily said that all three teams that beat them will likely qualify for the national meet.

Among those coming off the injury list for the CSC men was Lanar Newman, who placed third in the long jump (22- ¼) and fourth in the triple jump (47-2 ½).

Besides his record-breaking performance in the shot, Hunt placed fourth in the discus on Tuesday.

Headliners for the CSC women include sophomore Alyssa Norton, who finished second in both the hammer throw (159-0) and the discus (151-0) on Tuesday after placing fifth in the shot (43-5 ¾) on Monday.

Senior Stacee Craig, who was second in the heptathlon on Sunday and Monday, had another productive day Tuesday, when she was fourth in the 100 meters hurdles (15.03) and eighth in both the long jump (16-10 ¾) and the javelin (108-10).

The Eagles had a disappointment in the women’s high jump when Jazmyn Webster passed until the bar reached 5-5 and then she failed to clear it. However, she made amends by placing sixth in the long jump (17-10 ¼) and fifth in the triple jump (37-7 ¾).

Baily noted that Webster is already qualified for nationals in the high jump as her season-best of 5-9 ¾ is among the top five marks in the nation this spring.

Other standouts for the CSC women included Ashley Riesen, who was fifth in both the 800 (2:20.02) and the 1500 (4:48.45) and Kaelie Jelden, who went 11-8 in the pole vault, the same as the event winner, but had to settle for third because she had more misses.

—CSC Sports Information