Squires, Schwartzhoff highlight day one of the outdoor championships

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Competing in the wet conditions at Mount Mercy University for the Heart of America outdoor conference meet, the Clarke University Pride track and field teams had some strong individual performances.

Going into day two, the women currently sit with 29 points, tied for third out of 13 teams. The women's pole vault event has been a success for most of the season, as they've consistently been able to get multiple top-three finishers and once again the ladies brought it. The only Pride member of either the men's or women's team to come out as a champion on day one was freshman Grace Squires who earned her championship in exciting fashion in a jump-off against rival Central Methodist.

Scooping up six and five points for finishing in third and fourth was sophomore Emma Grant (3.25m) as well as freshman Autumn McLaughlin (3.10m) who hit a new PR. Just outside the top eight was fellow freshman Malia Beich (2.50m) who placed ninth.

Setting herself up to race in the finals tomorrow was freshman standout Allena Rowland who raced in the 200m event and crossed the finish line in 25.64 seconds, good for fifth place in the preliminary run.

A trio of Pride ladies ran in the 10k as Rory Bickler earned the highest finish (fourth) when she earned five points for the squad with a time of 40:33.49. Jaycie Franco was a couple of minutes behind (seventh) as she crossed in 42:42.06. Finally, Lydia Radeke was just outside of the top eight-point earners (ninth) as she made a time of 46:07.00.

On the men's side, Emmett Schwartzhoff made the best play of the day, earning himself a fourth-place finish in the 10k race with a time of 33:17.27.

A couple of notable finishers from the day were in the long jump competition as Emma Terwische on the women's side placed in ninth with a mark of 5.02m. In the same event for the men's team, James Vandun placed ninth for the men with a jump of 6.38m

Vandun also competed in the pole vault alongside teammate Timothy Miller whom each placed in sixth and 11th, respectively.

The men's decathlon and women's heptathlon will start day two of the conference championships as the Pride will continue their push to the podium starting at 9:30 am CST.