RedTail Men's Track and Field Compete at Fighting Bee Invite at St. Ambrose

January 30, 2023

The RedTail Men's Track and Field team competed at the Fighting Bee Invite at St. Ambrose on January 27th and 28th, taking fifth overall.

"The Men's team went to work this weekend at the Fighting Bee Invite at St. Ambrose." said coach Hunter Lavalee. "A few athletes walked into the meet with different goals in mind. Some were going to work, some were helping their teammates accomplish big goals, and others were throwing down hard. This group has shown to be building off of each meet to develop more and more as we near indoor championship season."

The Sprints crew started off early at the Fighting Bee Invite. Brigham Daniel (7.20), Gannon O'Hara (7.22), Kaden Miller (7.38), Jeron Shaw (7.41), and Kewan McCully (7.79 PR) hit the 60m Dash to get the RedTail's rolling. O'Hara hit a mark of 6.58m in the Long Jump to secure second place within a hectic schedule. Daniel (22.92), Miller (23.71), and O'Hara (23.81) finished out the competition with the 200m dash.

The Hurdlers were rolling this weekend, resulting in three hurdlers qualifying to the final. Freshman Nolan Clayberg led the RedTails through the 60m hurdle event. Clayberg won the race with a debut time of 8.63. Noah Sheridan (5th, 8.91) and Zane Vance (6th, 9.19) trailed closely behind. Travis Brace ran a time of 10.73 in the preliminary round.

The Long Sprints group went to work. Freshman Sean Knockel comes in fifth with a season's best mark of 51.95 with a late surge to win his heat. Carson Hellinga (1:26.09), Kenny Cutler (1:29.87), and Isaac Ryan (1:34.01) hit the 600m run and competed well among some tight competition.

The Men's Middle Distance squad also had a stellar weekend at the hive. Brock Meyer, Austin Langreck, and Chase Mullenix all debuted their first 800 opener of the season. Meyer matched his lifetime personal record of a 2:04.87, Langreck clocked in with a 2:10.39, and Mullenix battled hard at the end with a 1:59.31.

The Men's Distance crew had a phenomenal weekend in Ambrose. To start things off, Hunter Hughlette, Kory Sweeney, and Bryce Grissom all competed in the 1-mile race. Hughlette stopped the clock with a 4:59, crushing his previous personal record of 5:12. Sweeney dueled it out at the end and finished with a 5:12, just shy of his personal record. Bryce Grissom clocked in with a 5:31 with a great finish. D'Artognan Beaver and Zach Niederklopher kept things rolling in the 5,000m run. Beaver stopped the clock at 15:24.79, which automatically qualified him for nationals (conversion of 15:14.95) and smashed the previous record at Hawkeye (15:28). Niederklopher finished strong with a time of 17:08, which puts him on the top 10 list all-time at Hawkeye Community College.

The Throws crew started their day in the weight throw as three RedTails competed in the event. Tino Tamayo led the RedTail throwers with a throw of 10.92. Freshman Aaron Campbell threw a 10.05 followed by Beau Brackenmeyer who threw a 9.63. The guys finished out their day competing in shot put, where they had a lot of success. Tamayo threw a new personal record of 13.79. That throw landed him into number three on the record board. Freshman Brandt Williams also threw a new personal record of 12.27. Campbell rounded out the shot putters with a long toss of 11.24.