TRACK & FIELD OPENS SEASON WITH HOME ONU HOLIDAY OPEN
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The Olivet Nazarene University men's and women's track & field teams kicked off their seasons this weekend with multiple wins when they hosted the ONU Holiday Open at the Perry Center on Saturday.
Five different Tigers won events on the women's side. Lana Krohe helped ONU take the top three spots in the shot put. She won with a 12.32m mark while Sarah Schoonmaker was second at 11.76m and Amanda Gustafson placed third at 11.70m. Kayla Mikottis continued the ONU dominance in the throws, winning the event at 17.39m. Schoonmaker earned her second runner-up placement at 14.02m. Avery Spencer placed fourth (13.14m) and Krohe went fifth (12.89m).
Jolene Mantoan picked up the win in the triple jump, launching to a meet-best 11.55m mark to win the event. Hailey Perrine took third in the triple jump (5.20m) with Laurel Munson just behind in 4th (5.14m). Perrine also placed fifth in the triple jump (10.01m). Makenna Smith cleared 2.72m in the pole vault to lead ONU in fifth place.
Hannah Antkoviak, fresh off an NAIA national title in the spring, picked up right where she left off, winning a pair of individual events and placing third in another. The junior out of Allegan, Mich., finished first in both the 60m hurdles (8.75) and 200m dash (25.07) before taking third in the 60m dash with a time of 7.90.
Tera Miller finished inside the top-4 in three separate events. She placed fourth in the 60m dash (7.91) and third in the 200m dash (25.65) before eclipsing the 1-minute threshold in the 400m dash to take runner-up at 58.65. Tori Orton (1:01.59) and Sydnie Hatch (1:02.35) placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 400m dash.
The ONU women went 1-2 in the 1-mile run. Kathryn Swanson crossed the finish line first at 5:28.80 and Mackenzie Park was second at 5:43.67. Carsyn Burdine was fourth in the 200m dash in 26.44. Linda Griffith took fifth in 26.82, and she also went fourth in the 60m hurdles (9.64). Emma Betts placed eighth in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.99.
Vince Giuliano had a big meet at the ONU Holiday Open, winning a pair of individual events. He bolted to a time of 6.86 to win the event. Giuliano's second win came in the 200m dash, winning with a time of 21.63 and hitting the NAIA A-standard to qualify for nationals in the event.
Giuliano was one of five Tigers to make the finals in the 60m dash. Ranulfo Bernadit placed third (7.05), Joseph Randolph finished fourth (7.05), Andrew Hudson took seventh (7.14), and Calvin Thomas placed ninth (7.20). Randolph also placed fourth in the 200m dash (22.48) while Andrew Hudson placed fifth in the event (22.54).
Connor Betts was the champion in the 400m dash, crossing the finish line first with a time of 49.91. Jonathan Thomas (51.33) and Alex Powell (51.80) were right behind in fourth and fifth, respectively. Charlie Bardwell placed third in the 800m run (1:57.39) while Elijah Kayser took sixth in the 1-mile run at 4:46.27. Dorian Furtado notched a win in the 60m hurdles with a top time of 8.84. Avery Johnson was sixth at 9.30.
The men's 4x400m relay team of Betts, Thomas, Powell, and Martin Thompson was runner-up in 3:27.59.
The ONU men swept the jump events at the ONU Holiday Open. Keyon Wilson cleared 1.97m to win the high jump, Ivan Williams launched to a 6.57m mark to win the long jump, and Skyler Mitchell took down the triple jump with a meet-best mark of 13.31m.
Brody Vollrath made the podium in both throwing events. He placed third in the weight throw (16.09m) before earning runner-up in the shot put with a mark of 13.64. Daniel DeRamus placed second in the weight throw (16.73m) while Noah Simpson took third in the shot put at 13.43m.
The Tigers will be back on the track this Friday for the GVSU Holiday Open at the Kelly Family Sports Center in Allendale, Mich.
--ONU—
*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu
