Pride track and field finish extended weekend with new records and a national qualifier
DAVENPORT, Iowa - Getting a majority of their deep roster in action this week, the Clarke University track and field teams found success at both the Dutch Winter Multi and Fighting Bee Invitational this week.
The Pride multi-athletes competed in the heptathlon and pentalthon in Pella, Iowa hosted by Central College as three women for CU came in the top five in the pentathlon led by Annemarie Korner's 2797-point second place finish as Anyah Ranson (2725) and Isabelle Matthews (2566) finished in third and fifth respectively. Korner scored her most points in the 60-meter hurdles as she clocked in at a 10.14 second place finish as both Ranson and Matthews scored their highest individual event point total in the high jump with Ranson clearing 1.50 meters and Matthews clearing 1.47 meters.
On the men's side for the heptathlon Brody Deitering was the star of the show for CU as he scored 4771 points to break the Clarke school record and get to the third-best heptathlon mark in the NAIA, spotting him pretty comfortably in a spot at nationals with the top 16 scores of the season set to qualify. Deitering won the 60-meter dash with a 7.13 and 1000 meters with a 2:49.25 to bookend his second place finish in the eight-man field at the Dutch Winter Multi.
Full results of the Dutch Winter Multi can be found below
Heptathlon: https://clarke.prestosports.com/sports/mtrack/2023-24/files/Heptathlon_Results.pdf
Pentathlon: https://clarke.prestosports.com/sports/wtrack/2023-24/files/Pentathlon_Results.pdf
Transitioning to the St. Ambrose University hosted Fighting Bee Invitational where Clarke's individual event competitors performed for a sixth place women's team finish and a seventh place men's team finish in large team fields of 13 and 14 respectively.
On the men's side, distance runner Daniel Miller was able to knock off the school record in the 3000 meters with a third place time of 9:07.55 to lead a distance squad that scored 19 of the team's 54 points in the meet. Cord Nietert and Bryce Kondos also produced top-four performances in the 800 meters as Nietert finished second with a 2:02.45 and Kondos clocking in at 2:04.86. The final top running time for the Pride men came in the 60-meter dash where Gavayne Smith followed up his record-breaking and NAIA qualifying mark last week by matching it with another 6.86-second second place finish for the sophomore.
In the high jump on the men's side, a pair of Clarke competitors finished one-two with Daniel Adams scoring a 1.97-meter clearance on his second attempt to win the event over teammate Tyler Kell who matched Adams' first clearance of 1.92 meters but failed to clear the 1.97 for second place.
On the women's side, Gabrielle Dillard stood out amongst the CU sprinters, scoring points in the 60-meter dash (8.08) and the 200-meter dash (27.08) as the only member of the Pride women to earn points in multiple events while Jaycie Franco won the 3000 meter with an 11:06.82 with teammate Megan Hageman not far behind in third place at 11:08.09.
The routine pole vault update saw three scorers for CU led by Grace Squires earn a fourth-place tie with a 3.17-meter clearance just ahead of Autumn McLaughlin and Emma Grant's 2.99 as McLaughlin only edged out Grant by clearing 2.99 on her first try compared to Grant's second try.
Full results of the Fighting Bee Invite can be found here: https://milesplit.live/meets/591060/events
Clarke track and field will continue their indoor season next Friday when they head east to Bourbonnais, Ill. for the Walter Cramer Invite hosted by Olivet Nazarene University on Feb. 2.