Cross Country/Track
SBU Track & Field Report - MIAA Championships
By
May 9, 2008, 07:26

MARYVILLE, Mo. -- The SBU track and field team broke seven school records at the MIAA Outdoor Championships on May 3. Three SBU athletes qualified provisionally for nationals.

“We were blessed with so much this weekend," said SBU's head coach, Corey McElhaney. Overall the men and women broke a total of seven school records and had three athletes qualify “provisionally” for nationals.

Jennifer Gillespie finished third in the 400 hurdles.  Her time of 1:01.25 not only qualified her for the National meet, it ranks her #8 in the nation.  Coach Adkison: “We are very proud of Jennifer’s performance.  Although the hurdles are relatively new for her, she has excelled tremendously.  Jennifer is beginning to discover her potential.”

At the MIAA conference meet top eight places score and the top six places are named All-MIAA.  The scoring goes 1^st-10points, 2^nd-8 points, 3^rd- 6 points, 4^th – 5 points, 5^th – 4 points, 6th- 3 points, 7^th- 2 points, 8^th – 1 point.  In all the events other than the 1500 meters and up a preliminary was run and the top 8 advanced to the finals.

On the women’s side the scoring began with the 10,000 meter run (6.2 miles/25 laps).  Sophomore Courtney Ayers’s time of 38:02.52 not only placed her 3^rd in the MIAA it also shattered the SBU record by over 34 seconds.  Also scoring in that race (7^th) was sophomore Kristen Colon (39:08) who ran over 1 minute faster than her career best.

To start the scoring on Sunday Chelsea Strahm ran a 12 second career best that was good enough to place her 4^th place.  Her time was not only a SBU record it also was a National Provisional mark that is currently ranked 30^th in the Nation.

Freshman Kelsi Chowning towed the line with two All-Americans in the 1500 meter run and ran a five second career best that earned her 3^rd place.  Her time was .39 seconds from the national provisional mark, and less than one second from the SBU record.

Three more points were earned when sophomore Jenny Blair ran a 58.67 to place 6^th in the women’s 400 meter dash.

The SBU women’s 800 squad proved to be a force to recon with when all four of the SBU runners qualified for the finals, so four out of the eight runners were wearing SBU purple.  In the finals senior Alyssa Maggart placed 3^rd place with sophomore Mallory Roth in 4^th and the two freshmen Kelsi Chowning and Kassidy Porter placed 5^th and 7^th.

Sophomore Jennifer Gillespie not only hit a National Provisional mark in the 400 hurdles, she also broke her SBU record in the 100m hurdles during the prelims and came back in the finals to place 7^th in the  conference.  Jennifer ran a total of five races in 2 days.

On the men’s squad sophomore Nate Stukenborg, the only high jumper for the men jumped a college best of 6 foot 3 ¼ inches to place 10^th in the conference.

The first scoring event for the men was the 10,000 meter run. Sophomore Michael McCampbell ran a career best of 31 minutes 38.69 seconds.  His time was good enough to not only place 4^th in the MIAA but it also broke the SBU record by over 16 seconds.  Sophomores Cameron Ayers and David Hackney also ran personal records to place 12^th and 13^th.

The 1500 meter run proved to be a big event for the SBU men’s squad.  Junior Michael Pierce and sophomore Jeremy Glassmaker placed 2^nd and 4^th.  Pierces time of 3:52.65 was a national provisional mark.  Glassmaker’s time of 3:54.55 was a 3 second career best.

SBU also proved to be tough in the 800 meter run with Shawn Etzenhouser claiming a MIAA Championship and Vince Tichenor placing 5^th.  Etzenhouse’s time of 1:53.38 broke the current SBU record by over half a second, while Tichenor’s time of 1:54.89 was a career best for him also.

Junior Jeff Weseloh continued his breakout season with an All-Conference performance.  Weseloh ran a career best in the prelims (49.74) to be ranked 5^th in the finals.  Weseloh came back the next day to run a 49.73 which was good enough for a 6^th place finish.

The last two races on the men’s side were events that opened some eyes.  In the men’s 5,000 meter run Michael Pierce claimed SBU another Conference Champion by running a 15:09.47.  Close behind in 4^th was sophomore Shawn Etzenhouser.  This was Shawn’s first time running a 5k on the track; his time was 15:13.75.

The last event of the meet was the men’s 4x400 meter relay.  The current record was set in 1990 by Langford-McGarity-Ewalt-Holman.  Their time of 3:22.45 was broken by almost 3 seconds this weekend.  The team of Jeff Weseloh – Vince Tichenor – Nathaniel Rogers – Erik Johnson ran a 3:19.84 to place 5^th.

Coach McElhaney on the team’s success,  “Wow!!  This weekend was like a dream, as a whole our team competed the best they possibly could.  I was so proud to be the coach of the Southwest Baptist University Track and Field Team.  The athletes were so excited to have scored over twice the point total of any SBU team.  We had fabulous weather and the men/women took advantage of it and competed.  The more impressive thing about the team is the way they are humble, yes they were excited, but before and after their races they were getting together to pray and ask God for guidance or to thank him for his blessings.  It was a special weekend.”

Coach Adkison on the team’s success, “There is an aura of excitement around our program, primarily due to hard work and discipline from both the men and the women athletes.  Our track and field team is quickly being recognized as a program on the move.”

All-Conference athletes

Women (49 points 8^th place)

400 meter dash

6^th Jenny Blair

400 hurdles

3^rd Jennifer Gillespie (School Record / Provisional mark #8 in the nation)

800 meter run

3^rd Alyssa Maggart

4^th Mallory Roth

5^th Kelsi Chowning

1500 meter run

3^rd Kelsi Chowning (.39 off of provisional / 1 second off school record)

3,000 steeple chase

4^th Chelsea Strahm (School Record / Provisional Mark)

10,000 meter run

3^rd Courtney Ayers (School Record)

Men (57 points) 7^th place

400 meter dash

6^th Jeff Weseloh

800 meter run

1^st Shawn Etzenhouser (School Record)

5^th Vince Tichenor

1500 meter run

2^nd Michael Pierce (Provisional mark)

4^th Jeremy Glassamaker

5,000 meter run

1^st Michael Pierce

4^th Shawn Etzenhouser

10,000 meter run

4^th Michael McCampbell (School Record)

4x400 meter relay

5^th  Jeff Weseloh, Vince Tichenor, Nathaniel Rogers, Erik Johnson (School Record by 3 seconds)