BY MAKENNA ALLEN
The regular outdoor track season wrapped up for the Tigers this past weekend in Warrensburg, Mo.. The women’s team finished in tenth place in the meet while the men ended their last meet in seventh place. Pittsburg State and Central Missouri took home the title of conference champions for the women and men, respectively. However, head coach, Jason McCullough, suggested that the track and field team’s greatest success was in its unity.
“I think we had a lot of ups and downs,” McCullough said. “I was especially pleased on the second day of how much we supported each other and encouraged the team to perform at a higher level.”
Even beyond this, McCullough cited several individual successes from the weekend.
“Brett Meyer probably had the best performance with an 800 and a 1500-meter title,” McCullough said. “But we had a lot of other standout performances. Ryan Stanley comes to mind. He hit a provisional qualifying mark in the pole vault, clearing about a foot higher than he had outdoors so that was a great performance.”
According to McCullough, the notable successes extended beyond the pole vaulters to runners such as freshman, Philip Laundrum, who placed third with an NCAA qualifying mark in the 100-meters. Laundrum completed the race with a time of 10.52 seconds.
The women’s team had its own set of triumphs despite the fact that most of the team is relatively young.
“On the girls’ side, we graduated a lot of seniors last year so we knew we were missing a few parts this year but those that competed, competed well,” McCullough said. “We scored points in the jumps, in the distance, and in the throws so we had some points that were spread out. We just didn’t have anyone on the podium so we didn’t quite perform quite at that level.”
It is with this idea of growth of the young team that McCullough looks optimistically towards next season.
“Last year, we graduated 23 seniors. This year, we graduate nine,” McCullough said. “We’re going to have a lot of our team coming back next year. Plus, this is probably one of our better recruiting classes.”
Though the season is over for the majority of the Tiger athletes, there’s still more to come for the four individuals that have already qualified for nationals.
After the conference meet, Brett Meyer, Kolt Newell, Alexcia Deutscher, and Ryan Stanley have all qualified for the national meet. This list might include six to eight individuals after the last chance meet in Kearney, Nebraksa which took place Sun., May 12. Though the roster of athletes competing at nationals has yet to be finalized, two individuals hit provisional marks during the competition in Kearney. However, the four individuals that have already qualified are looking to improve upon their successes of previous years.
“Brett, Alexcia, and Kolt were all-Americans either this year, or last year, or for several years so their goals are to be where they were last year or higher,” McCullough said.
McCullough also believes hat Stanley will achieve a title of all-American.
Though the athletes hold these goals for their future competition, they have been striving throughout the course of their careers to reach this point. For senior, Brett Meyer, each season has proved to be a combination of goals that have culminated in the dream of competing at nationals this year.
“I had a few goals this outdoor. Thanks to John Mason, I’ve been chasing his records for two years now and have come up short. He set the bar high for me and that is what I have been working towards this year. Although I didn’t get his records, I had big goals to win conference in both the 800 and 1500-meter,” Meyer said.
Meyer successfully completed what he set out to attain this past weekend when he completed the 800-meters race with a winning time of 1:51.45. He also finished first in the 1,500-meters race with a time of 4:07.44.
Even in light of this victory, Meyer looks onwards toward his next goal.
“I accomplished this last weekend with the help of my teammates, family, and friends who believed in pushed me to be my best. My last goal is to go to nationals and leave everything on the track.”
Junior, Alexcia Deutscher, has held a similar thought throughout the course of her season.
Deutscher, herself, placed fourth in javelin during the conference meet with a distance of 48.83 meters. However, she has been looking towards the national meet since the beginning of the season.
“My goals for the season have really been to make sure that I’m achieving my goal to go to nationals, hitting 50 meters or more, and to make sure that I’m healthy,” Detuscher said.
Though Deutscher achieved her main objective of reaching nationals early in the season, this accomplishment required work outside of the regular season.
“Qualifying for nationals is such a great achievement especially for how early on in the season I did that. It mainly just shows me that the work that I put in months before my season begins is paying off,” Deutscher said. “My coach also plays a role in this as he has helped me get better every season.”
This idea of improvement every season also played a role in senior Kolt Newell’s story. Newell was also successful during the conference meet, clearing a height of 6 feet 7 inches. However, his qualification for nationals in the final year of his career provided a new perspective to his journey.
“This year means a lot to me because it will be my last track meet ever and to be able to finish at the biggest meet means everything to me.”
With this “biggest meet” looming just weeks ahead the athletes are preparing themselves both mentally and physically.
“Right now, we’re just giving them a little bit of a break from conference so that they can recover and rest,” McCullough said. “It’s a long season. Conference is on a Saturday and Sunday and they come back and they have finals.”
Though the season may be long, Meyer believes that there is no room to hold back when it comes to representing the Tigers with pride.
“It means a lot for me to qualify for nationals one last time. It means I get to represent the Tigers across my chest one more time against the nation’s best,” Meyer said. “It is surreal to think my four years here are coming to an end but I am excited to give it my all in my last race as a collegiate athlete.”
Tune in to watch the best athletes of Tigers track and field as they take on the fiercest competition in the nation. The NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championship Meet is set to take place in Kingsville, Tx., Thurs. May 23.