Records Fall, Qualifying Standards Met at Mount Mercy Distance Carnival
Cedar Rapids--The Statesmen men's track and field team produced a plethora of huge efforts as it competed at the Mount Mercy Distance Carnival Friday and Saturday.
In a meet that featured Elite, Invitational, and Open classes for several events, Showalter Johnson (Jr., Nassau, Bahamas, New Media), D'Artagnon Beaver (Jr., Rockford, Ill., Human Services), and Nick Marshall (Jr., Glenpool, Okla., Human Services) were certainly elite.
Johnson eclipsed two standards and broke a school record, while Beaver set another program mark and qualified. Marshall punched his ticket for nationals as well.
Johnson's time of 10.37 seconds in the 100-meter finals breaks the old record (10.41, Nick Richardson-Jackson, 2021) and also hits the 'A' standard. He also met the provisional standard in the 200-meter dash with a winning time of 21.40 seconds.
Beaver finished second in the 1,500-meter run with a new school record and 'B' standard time of 3:53.91. The old 1,500 record was 4:03.88 by Jamal Boma from 2017.
The junior, however, was not the only Statesmen to snap the mark as Jonah Heckenberg (Sr., Stockport, Iowa, Business Management) also beat the previous time with a seventh-place effort of 3:56.97.
Marshall will join Johnson and Beaver at NAIA Nationals as his second-place hammer throw of 180-0 hit the automatic standard.
Tahj Ferguson (Sr., Hartford, Conn., Psychology) and John Webb (Fr., Dothan, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) enjoyed big success as well with both walking away with golds at the meet. Ferguson was first in the long jump at 22-1, while Webb guided the triple jumpers at 45-6.5.
The Statesmen dominated the triple jump with Micah Mills (Fr., Houston, Texas, Psychology) taking second at 43-3.25 and Anthony Weaver (Fr., Demopolis, Ala., Mechanical Engineering) finishing third at 43-1.75. Tom Nyandoro (Jr., Wake Forest, N.C., Information Technology) was also fifth (41-1), while placing sixth in the 110-meter hurdles prelims (15.84 seconds).
Mills (eighth, 20-3.75) and Jalen Morris (Fr., Grimes, Iowa, Business Management) (ninth, 20-2.5) were top-10 finishers in the long jump as well.
The distance duo of Beaver and Heckenberg also finished high in the 800-meter run with Heckenberg ending up seventh (1:57.90) and Beaver placing 16th (2:01.41). Ethan Varvelo (Jr., Channelview, Texas, Engineering Technology) was close behind Beaver in 23rd (2:05.46).
WPU had several other strong sprinting performances, including Webb taking fifth in the 200 (22.13). Ferguson was 12th in the 100 (11.07), Rayan Antonia (So., Willensted, Curacao, Business Management) was 17th in the same event (11.29), and Bennett Polite (Jr., Kearney, Mo., Fine Arts) was 15th in the 200 at 22.62.
Marshall's big weekend was not limited to just the hammer throw as he finished fifth in the javelin (156-0) and eighth in the shot put (46-6.25).
Xzavion West (So., Guthrie, Ky., Undecided) and Jeremiah Conteh (Sr., Shorewood, Wis., English) also had three top-half placings. West was sixth in the hammer (169-3), seventh in the shot put (44-3.5), and 14th in the discus (127-5), while Conteh was eighth in the hammer (165-4), 13th in the discus (128-1), and 14th in the shot put (40-6.25).
Steven Murray (Sr., Missouri Valley, Iowa, Sociology) was in the top 10 in the shot put (eighth, 44-2.5) in addition to placing 19th in the discus (122-7).
"Our men really showed up for this meet," Head Coach Victoria Vinokur said. "Having four qualifying marks and three school records was a lot of fun. Showalter Johnson was phenomenal in the 100. Nick Marshall qualifying earlier than he did last year shows he is peaking at the right time and still has a lot in the tank. D'Artagnon Beaver is just getting started with hitting standards. It was truly a great competition day."
Next Up: William Penn will split its squad with some individuals going to Lawrence, Kan. next Thursday through Saturday for the Kansas Relays, while others will head to Iowa City next Saturday to compete in the Musco Twilight hosted by Iowa.
