April 18, 2024

Spartans prepping for outdoor track and field nationals

Nodaway Valley alum Josh Baudler of Fontanelle runs the steeplechase for Southwestern Community College at its regional meet last weekend in Council Bluffs. The race is one of five entrants the Spartans will have at outdoor nationals next Tuesday through Thursday in Levelland, Texas. (Scott Vicker)

CRESTON — When the first gun goes off at the NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships May 11-13 in Levelland, Texas, Southwestern Community College will have five entries there.

Southwestern competed last weekend in a regional championship meet at Iowa Western Community College.

“Lots of [personal records] again and overall it was a really good day for us, but it kind of stings that a couple of those events we thought we had a chance in didn’t pan out for us,” said SWCC head coach Scott Vicker.

The Spartans’ only female athlete, Fane Sauvakacolo, is the lone member of Vicker’s team who automatically qualified for nationals. She will represent Southwestern there in the heptathlon and triple jump.

The mens team will take three more events to nationals as at-large entries. Vicker feels that those events all deserve to compete on that type of a stage eventhough they didn’t make the benchmark to qualify automatically.

The Spartan men will have Nodaway Valley alum Josh Baudler run in the steeplechase. He is currently four seconds off the school record (9:55.76). Also going to nationals will be Benjamin Aliel in the 200-meter dash and Roland Hure in the 100-meter dash.

Vicker said Sauvakacolo came to SWCC primarily as a triple jumper, although the reigonal meet was the first time she’s done it here outdoors.

“I had not had her do triple jump at all since our indoor national meet just because it’s been bothering her back. We wanted to give her a chance to heal up a little bit. We hadn’t really practiced it at all,” Vicker said. “She broke the school record by over a meter. We’re taking her in the triple jump too since she’ll already be competing.”

Vicker said that Baudler has made “tremendous progress” in the steeplechase, a race that is 3,000 meters long and very mentally and physically demanding due to water and hurdle obstacles.

Aliel was a part of SWCC’s high-performing 4x100-meter relay this year that qualified for the Drake Relays and just began running the 200 late this season. Vicker said Aliel, who has been dealing with injuries all season, “ran incredibly well in that.”

Just like it was at indoor nationals, the Spartans have a goal for Sauvakacolo to be All-American, which would require a top-8 finish.

“She’s currently fourth in the country in the heptathlon. I know she left a few points out there at regionals, but she also had a perfect first day of regionals. We know we’re going to have to show up for a perfect couple of days,” Vicker said.

For the men, Vicker said goals primarily include running new personal records and shooting for school records.