Southwestern track and field opens season in Maryville

MARYVILLE, M.O. – The Southwestern men and women track and field team opened their season Saturday not too far from home, competing at Northwest Missouri State’s 2020 Northwest Open.

The first indoor meet of the season, Southwestern head coach Trey Bruton was very pleased with the performances of both the men and the women.

“I thought it was our best first meet that I have ever been a part of,” said Bruton. “... The previous first two years, for sure this year was way better than those first two years just based on how they preformed.”

The Spartans’ performance to kick off 2020 was one that broke school records in the field, as Brandon Thompson set a new school record in the shot put and in the weight throw.

Thompson tossed the shot 12.94 meters (42 feet, 5 1/2 inches), finishing 24th, and the weight 9.35 meters (30 feet, 8 inches), placing 41st. Elenai Tinai also set a school record, breaking her own long jump record of 5.43 meters (17 feet, 9 inches) for the fifth best distance in the event.

Roland Hure also had a great day, tying the school record in the long jump with a distance of 6.81 meters (22 feet, 4 inches).

While there weren’t any record-breaking times from the track, Bruton is happy to see the team is ahead of where they’ve been to open the season in the past.

“Times weren’t necessarily stellar exactly, but they’re way further ahead than where we’ve been at in the past and that’s really encouraging, ... knowing we’re already two or three weeks ahead of where we typically start,” said Bruton.

One of the best finishes for the Spartans came from Roland Hure, placing second in the 60 meter dash Friday with a time of 7.06, second only to Dodge City’s Daquan Bailey-Brown.

Fane Sauvakacolo set the triple jump record at 9.91 meters (10 feet, 8 inches).

Benjamin Aliel finished fourth in the 400 meter, clocking a 49.13. The winner of the event, Corey Lyons from St. Marys of Kansas, ran a time of 47.42. Aliel’s event was the highest finish for any Southwestern runner in the meet.

In the men’s 4x400 meter relay (Nicolae Vandor, Hure, Connor Eaton and Aliel), Southwestern placed 10th, running a time of 3:26.45. Their finish, along with a seventh place (11:09.75) distance medley for Colin Shreve, Eaton, Vandor and Cedrick Watson were the highest placings for SWCC relay/distance teams.

Tinai placed 24th in the women’s 200 meter dash, running a time of 26.53 along with her solid finish in the field.

After a cancellation of the first meet of the season pushed back their opening day, Bruton feels the team is ahead of schedule with where prior teams have been at this time in the season.

“We were kind of bummed we didn’t get to go to that first meet at Central (College),” said Bruton. “... Honestly, I think we’ve had two of the best weeks of practice that I’ve ever had here. It seems like the athletes they’re coming to practice, they’re bought in and they’re doing what they need to do. ... We’ve really taken some strides forward in that area and it’s exciting to see.

“They’re finally starting to get a little bit of confidence in themselves, I think,” Bruton said.

Doing what they can

Despite indoor season opening up, this does not leave teams impervious to the harsh winter weather. As snow comes and goes through southwest Iowa, the Spartans have been forced to stay inside, in their own home gym, to practice certain events like high jump, long jump, the triple jump and others.

The process has Bruton feeling it could be much worse, and is happy the team is still able to work out in some sort of way.

“We just try to do what we can, get in what we can,” said Bruton. “... There’s a decent bit of them are willing to go work out on their own or come up with a workout. ... Sometimes it’s good for a rest day. It helps them get recovered. Weather has been bad a few times, but I think we’re better off than what we had last year.”

Bruton’s team has made the most of what they’ve got, using new indoor equipment for the jumpers to get work in, helping runners get used to block starts and to get comfortable to spikes instead of running in tennis shoes.

Going into this season, the feeling that the team can compete against schools with bigger spending, higher recruiting power and deeper history is possible, but the factor of depth could be an issue.

“Top end, we’ve got some talent that’s just as good or better than most of the teams in our conference, to be honest,” said Bruton. “We’ve got some of the most talented athletes in the country, even. Top end, I think we’re just as good as them, but we just don’t have the depth of some of the other teams. ... We are willing to do our best and put up as good of a fight as we can put up.”

At the 2019 Region XI Championship, the Spartans scored 57 points in the mens event and 48 points in the womens event, placing fourth and sixth, respectively. Iowa Central (374) won the mens event and Iowa Western (249.66) won the womens event.

Southwestern next goes to the Buena Vista University Muli at BVU in Storm Lake Friday. Start time is to be determined.

Schedule

Jan. 31-Feb. 1 – BVU Muli at Buena Vista University, TBD

Feb. 7-8 – Bearcat Open at Northwest Missouri University, TBD

Feb. 14-15 – South Dakota State University Indoor Classic at SDSU, TBD

Feb. 21 – Nebraska Tune-up at University of Nebraska, TBD

March 21 – ESU Twilight at Emporia State University, TBD

March 27-28 – Jim Duncan Invitational at Drake University, TBD

April 3-4 – Central Invite at Central College, TBD

April 16-17 – Kansas Relays at University of Kansas, TBD

April 18 – Dick Young Open at Grinnell College, TBD

April 23 – Kip Janvrin Open at Simpson College, TBD

TBD – Drake Relays, Drake University

April 26-27 – Region XI Multi at Iowa Western, TBD

May 2-3 – Region XI Ourdoor Championships at Iowa Western, TBD

May 14-16 – NJCAA Outdoor Championships at Hutchinson, TBD