RESULTS
EMPORIA, Kan. – A pair of school-record performances from Cloud County Community College women's track and field sophomore
N Vanee Anchike led the T-Bird track and field teams to six event wins and 17 top-five finishes at the 2024 Emporia State University Relays held at Francis G. Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kansas on Thursday, March 28th.
The meet, which consisted of teams from the state of Kansas and surrounding states, featured a mix of NCAA Division I, II, NAIA, and NJCAA schools all competing in the mid-week competition with no team scores being recorded throughout the day.
In the first of the two school-record performances for Anchike, a time of 4:37.69 was ran in the 1,500 meters to break the previous record set last season by
Lucy Ndungu (4:38.92) while besting the 49-runner field in the event. Anchike went on to break a second record previously set by Ndungu last year, winning the 5,000 meters later in the day by running a time of 17:27.28 to edge out the previous record of 17:27.53. Both times currently rank number three on the NJCAA Division I Outdoor Performance List this season. Joining Anchike with event wins and national qualifying times were
Rafiatu Nuhu in the 400 meters (54.84 seconds) and
Chenessa Davis in the 100 meter hurdles (14.45 seconds) as both bested fields of over 25 runners in their respective events. Nuhu's time is the fourth-best in the NJCAA this season while Davis ranks eighth in the hurdles.
One final event win was scored by the CCCC women with
Chidinma Nwachukwu,
Mercy Angaamchaab,
Nontokozo Ncube, and Nuhu coming together to run a time of 3:52.76 in the 4x400 meter relay. Ncube went on to add a runner-up finish individually in the 800 meters with a time of 2:13.54 while Angaamchaab placed sixth in the 1,500 meters (4:50.78) to finish out the top women's marks on the track for Cloud County. In field events,
Jasmine Sakaguchi (3.57 meters, 11 ft. – 8.5 in.) and
Bradie Medina (3.27 meters, 10 ft. – 8.75 in.) both placed in the top four of the pole vault with a second and fourth-place finish, respectively while seeing
Tamara Thompson earn a third-place finish in the discus (48.15 meters, 158 ft. – 0 in.). The final two top-eight finishes for the T-Birds came courtesy of Davis in the high jump with a sixth-place finish (1.50 meters, 4 ft. – 11 in.) and an eighth-place finish from
Adrienne Locke-Garcia in the shot put (12.75 meters, 41 ft. – 10 in.).
As for the CCCC men, Cloud County was led by an event win from Awakhiwe Ndlvou in the triple jump after recording a mark of 15.30 meters (50 ft. – 2.5 in.) to win his only event of the day while seeing both
Mohamed Belhassen in the pole vault (4.33 meters, 14 ft. – 2.5 in.) and
Corey Ottey in the high jump (2.04 meters, 6 ft. – 8.25 in.) both take runner-up in their field events. Ottey also helped Cloud County earn one of their three runner-up finishes on the track in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:18.78 alongside
Bradley Nkosi,
Kevin Brooks, and
Kamogelo Thipe while seeing Siiyabonga Mokgothu (3,000 meter steeplechase – 9:15.01) and
Ishmael Acheampong (800 meters – 1:53.68) both take second in their events.
The next highest finish for CCCC on Thursday was in the 400 meter hurdles with
Ifeanyichukwu Aninze taking fourth with a time of 54.92 before seeing
Brandon Hutchinson finish in the top-eight of a trio of events beginning with the 110 meter hurdles (fifth – 14.54 seconds) before going on to take seventh in the pole vault (4.18 meters, 13 ft. – 8.5 in.) and eighth in the javelin throw (55.05 meters, 180 ft. – 7 in.). The mark in the javelin currently ranks fifth in the NJCAA while the other two marks were just off the qualification standards set for the National Championship Meet. Cloud County's remaining two top-eight finishes both came in field events, with
Trey Collins taking sixth in the high jump (1.94 meters, 6 ft. – 4.25 in.) and
Lubo Zlatev placing seventh in the long jump (7.00 meters, 22 ft. – 11.75 in.).
What's Next?
A busy week ahead for CCCC will see the T-Birds take part in the three-day Friends University Spring Open and Multi-Events which begins on Thursday, April 4th. The meet will take place at Adair-Austin Stadium in Wichita, Kansas and be the first of back-to-back weekends scheduled in Wichita for the T-Bird track and field teams.
