MANHATTAN, Kan. - With just one week remaining before the 2024 NJCAA Region VI Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Cloud County Community College women's and men's track and field teams got in one final meet by putting together 25 top-eight finishes at the five-team Ward Haylett Invitational hosted by Kansas State University at the R.V. Christian Track and Field Complex in Manhattan, Kansas on Friday, April 27th.
No team scores were kept for the meet as action was condensed from a two-day meet down to just one day to avoid potential weather-related concerns on Saturday with storms forecasted throughout on Saturday.
A strong showing from the Cloud County men accounted for 16 of the top-eight finishes including the top finishes from CCCC with
Nichalas Power taking second in the 800 meters with a time of 1:52.72 to go along with a second-place finish from
Awakhiwe Ndlovu in the triple jump (15.30 meters, 50 ft. - 2.5 in.). A third-place finish and national qualifying mark in the pole vault came courtesy of
Brandon Hutchinson (4.41 meters, 14 ft. - 5.5 in.) to go along with a sixth-place finish from
Skylar McFarling (4.11 meters, 13 ft. - 5.75 in.) while seeing the high jump have
Corey Ottey take fourth (2.10 meters, 6 ft. - 10.75 in.) and both
Arne Roehl and
Trey Collins tie for fifth (1.95 meters, 6 ft. - 4.75 in.). Other top-eight finishes in field events for the T-Bird men included a fifth-place finish from
Lucas Kenney in the shot put (12.81 meters, 42 ft. - 0.5 in.), sixth-place finish from
Jaren Aurand in the javelin (53.28 meters, 174 ft. - 10 in.) and eighth-place finish from Aurand in the discus (38.62 meters, 126 ft. - 8 in.).
Of the remaining top-eight finishes for the CCCC men, three came in hurdle events with
Bradley Nkosi taking fourth in the 110-meter hurdles (14.74 seconds) along with a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (55.23 seconds).
Paul Tasset also ran in the 400-meter hurdles, taking seventh with a time of 1:08.35 while seeing Koy Behke take seventh in the 200 meters (23.07 seconds) and
Ifeanyichukwu Aninze take seventh in the 400 meters (50.62 seconds).
Field events highlighted seven of the nine top-eight finishes for Cloud County on the women's side with the pole vault accounting for a pair of top finishers in
Jasmine Sakaguchi (fourth, 3.61 meters, 11 ft. - 10 in.) and
Bradie Medina (seventh, 3.46 meters, 11 ft. - 4.25 in.). Two top-eight finishers were also had in the high jump with
Cordaelia Williams and
Chenessa Davis both clearing 1.60 meters (5 ft. - 3 in.) to take sixth and eighth, respectively while seeing the discus have
Emery May (38.49 meters, 126 ft. - 3 in.0 and
Margherita Sala (37.92 meters, 124 ft. - 5 in.) take sixth and seventh in the event. Three different T-Birds accounted for the remaining top-eight finishes with
Emaleigh Towner taking fifth in the shot put (11.87 meters, 38 ft. - 11.5 in.),
Lela Singleton taking seventh in the 400 meters (59.94 seconds), and
Jaelyn Rumback taking eighth in the 400 meter hurdles (1:07.54).
What's Next?
The 2024 NJCAA Region VI Outdoor Track and Field Championships will take place at the Green Sports Track/Soccer Complex in Pratt, Kansas beginning on Thursday, May 2nd. The three-day meet, which is being hosted by Pratt, will see both Cloud County teams look to move up the final team standings from a year ago when both T-Bird squads finished as Region VI runners-up by a combined total of 2.5 points (one point on the men's side, 1.5 points on the women's side). Multi-event action will start up on Thursday before seeing full squads start to compete on Friday afternoon with final day action taking place on Saturday, May 4th.
