ONU TRACK & FIELD SWEEPS CCAC INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
DAVENPORT, Iowa – The Olivet Nazarene University men's and women's track & field teams came home champions as they topped the CCAC Indoor Championships this weekend. The ONU women totaled 242 points to finish first out of seven teams, while the Tiger men racked up 268.5 points to take the top spot out of eight teams.
The ONU women have now won three-consecutive titles while the men have won five of the last six CCAC Indoor championships.
In addition to the team glory, Vince Giuliano was named the CCAC Men's Track Athlete of the Year. Head Coach Kyle Rago was recognized as the Coach of the Year for both men's and women's programs by the CCAC.
Five different Tigers were individual champions on the women's side. Hannah Antkoviak brought home a pair of wins in the 400-meter dash and the 60-meter hurdles. She crossed the finish line at 56.53 to win the 400 and then clocked in at 8.69 to take the gold in the 60 hurdles. Antkoviak was the only runner to clock in under nine seconds in the latter.
The Tigers placed four in the top eight of the 60-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter dashes. In the 60, Kiara Carter went second in 7.75, Kimberly Brent placed third (7.82), Linda Griffith fifth, and Tera Miller seventh. In the 200, Griffith was the runner-up at 25.07, Brent took third (25.49), Carter went fifth, and Miller sixth. Antkoviak was the champion in the 400, followed by Kiara Carter in second at 57.30. Griffith placed fifth in the event while Miller was sixth.
Catherine White and Eleanor Fournier tallied an ONU 1-2 finish in the 5000-meter run. White took the top spot at 18:16.42 while Fournier was the runner-up at 18:39.33. Lauren Smith was fourth in the event at 19:08.38. Jacey Schickel took the runner-up spot in the 3000-meter run, crossing the finish line in 10:21.14.
Tori Orton was the conference champion in the 600-meter run. She came out on top at 1:39.47, with a mere half-second separating the top three. Heidi Heldt crossed the finish line at 2:24.51 to place fourth in the 800-meter run.
Olivia Earl cleared 3.27 meters to win the pole vault, taking the top spot via jump-off. Hailey Perrine was the runner-up in the long jump with a 5.53-meter mark. Jolene Mantoan launched to a 10.85-meter mark to place third in the triple jump.
Courtney Hall hit her best marks of the season at the CCAC Championships. She was the conference champion in the weight throw, hitting a PR of 16.43 meters to win the event. Hall set another PR of 12.95 meters to place third in the shot put. Lana Krohe placed second in the shot put at 13.15 meters.
The ONU women swept the relays at the CCAC Indoor Championships. Antkoviak, Carter, Griffith, and Miller crossed the finish line at 3:54.53 to win the 4x400 relay, while the quartet of Heldt, Schickel, Destiny Vargas, and Mackenzie Park were champions of the 4x800 relay at 10:00.56.
Vince Giuliano collected a pair of individual conference titles this weekend. He was the runner to clock in under 22 seconds in winning the 200-meter dash (21.68) before taking the top spot in the 400-meter dash at 49.00. Calvin Thomas was fourth in the 200-meter dash (22.55) while Conner Betts placed sixth.
The ONU men placed three in the 60-meter dash finals. Jalen Dunnigan led the Tigers with a fourth-place finish at 7.07. Emmanuel Nguessan placed sixth (7.11), just edging out his teammate Nathan Domont in seventh (7.11). Four Tigers placed inside the top eight of the 400. Giuliano was the champ, while Betts was fourth. Alex Powell placed fifth and Ben Tavares was seventh.
Chapman Neal and Connor Price split two-thirds of the podium in the 600-meter run, with Neal taking runner-up in 1:24.35 and Price in third (1:25.28). Jonathan Thomas and Brayden Furtado both made the finals in the 60-meter hurdles, with Thomas placing fifth and Furtado seventh.
Brett Hulliberger led a quartet of Tigers in the top-four spots of the 800-meter run. He won in 1:56.55, Max Grant was the runner-up (1:56.71), Erik Richter placed third and Joey Puccillo placed fourth. Hulliberger followed that up with a runner-up finish in the 1000-meter run, crossing the finish line in 2:31.83. Erik Richter was fourth in the event (2:32.50).
Boston Brooks found the podium in two events. He placed third in the 5000-meter run (15:08.80) before finishing runner-up in the 5000-meter run with a time of 8:40.71. Taylor Vallangeon placed fifth in both of these events. Owen Daugherty won the 3000-meter racewalk at 16:19.29.
Noah Sears cleared the meet's top height of 4.65 meters to win the pole vault. Ivan Williams took a pair of runner-up finishes this weekend, placing second in the long jump with a 6.61-meter mark and second in the triple jump at 13.44 meters. Creedon Welsch placed third in the long jump (6.50 meters). Ian Hallom and Nathan domont both cleared 1.85 meters to place second and third, respectively, in the high jump.
Daniel DeRamus hit a 15.17-meter mark to place fourth in the weight throw. Brody Vollrath was fifth at 14.95 meters. The duo placed seventh and eighth, respectively, in the shot put. Aiden Mclain placed seventh in the shot put.
The ONU men took the top spot in both of the relays at the CCAC Championships. Betts, Giuliano, George Hannah, and Tavaras teamed up to win the 4x400 relay at 3:22.59 while Price, Neal, Mabaraka Mmbumba, and Hayden Colclasure took the top spot in the 4x800 relay with a time of 8:09.06.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Tigers will continue their postseason run at the NAIA National Championships, which will take place March 1-3 on the campus of South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D.
--ONU—
*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu