It’s ironic, but both Chadron State College track and field teams scored 32 points during the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s Indoor Championships at Adams State in Alamosa, Colo., on Friday and Saturday. Often those points weren’t easy to come by for the members of either team.
In numerous instances it took the best marks of the Eagles’ careers to earn of them, but they were usually up to the challenge.
CSC Coach Seth Mischke called the Eagles’ performances “solid.” He said several improved their provisional marks that are a benchmark for qualifying for the national meet.
The point totals put the CSC women seventh and the men eighth in the team standings. A dozen teams were in both competitions.
As was expected, the Eagles were led by weight throwers Kyla Sawvell and Daniel Reynolds, both of whom repeated as conference champions.
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Sawvell, the senior from Wall, S.D., won the women’s weight throw for the fourth year in a row with a mark of 20.06 meters, or 65 feet, 9 ¾ inches. The throw was Sawvell’s best at RMAC Meets and was more than five feet farther than any other contestant reached this year.
Reynolds, a junior from Granby, Co, won the men’s weight throw for the second consecutive year with a mark of 19.31 meters, or 63 feet, 4 ¼ inches. Although his throw was about 17 inches shy of his toss of a year ago when he set the RMAC record that had stood since 2001, he won this year’s event by more than two feet.
Both Sawvell and Reynolds broke the Adams State field house weight throw records and neither has been beaten in the event so far this season. Both will advance to the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships at Virginia Beach, Va., March 10 and 11.
Sawvell also placed second in the shot put and Reynolds finished seventh in the shot at the conference meet.
Sawvell, who transferred to Chadron State last fall to enroll in a graduate program that intrigued her after she’d attended Black Hills State the previous four years, also was seeking her fourth straight RMAC shot put championship. Her mark Saturday of 15.49 meters, or 50 feet, 10 inches, also was her all-time best at the conference meets and it exceeded the RMAC Meet record.
However, sophomore Katherine Higgins of Colorado State-Pueblo hit 15.56 meters, or 51- ¾, to edge Sawvell for the victory and thus claim the RMAC record.
The old record, incidentally, had belonged to another former Black Hills State standout, Madison McLaughlin, who shoved the shot 15.34 meters, or 50-4, in 2016. McLaughlin, like Sawvell, also is a native of Wall, S.D.
Reynolds was disappointed with his shot put experience Saturday. He fouled on his final four attempts and had to accept 51-7 ¼ as his best after he’d posted a career-best of 54-11 ½ a week ago. That mark would have been good for fourth at the RMAC showdown.
The Eagles picked up more points in the weight throws besides the 20 that Sawvell and Reynolds combined to earn. That occurred when senior Courtney Smith of Rock Springs, Wyo., and sophomore Christopher Jennings of O’Neill each placed while hitting career-best marks. Smith threw 57-7 ½ to take fifth and Jennings threw 57-10 ½ to finish seventh.
Three other Chadron State men also placed in the rugged competition with career-best marks. Osvaldo Cano of Oshkosh was third in the men’s 400 in 49.12 seconds, Creighton Trembly of Longmont, Colo., was fourth in the high hurdles in 8.05 seconds and Harley Rhoades of Douglas, Wyo., took fifth in the heptathlon with 4,712 points. That’s 230 more than Rhoades scored in the grueling event at last year’s meet.
The marks posted by Cano and Rhoades added their names to the Eagles’ list of provisional national qualifiers. Cano’s time is the Eagles’ fourth best all-time indoors. Those above him are Joel Duffield, 47.22, 2006; Brodie Roden, 47.69, 2020; and Martin Moriel, 48.65, 2016.
Cano and Trembley also ran on the Eagles’ 4x400 relay team that was sixth in 3:22.3, CSC’s best time of the season in the event. Osiel Cano and Logan Peila were the other relay members.
As usual, a couple of stalwarts on the CSC women’s team also had strong performances Saturday. Jordaine Cerenil of Pine Bluffs, Wyo., was third in the high jump with a season-best of 5-6 ½ and Carlie Collier of Dunning, Neb. placed in two sprints, taking sixth in the 200 meters and eighth in the 60.
Colorado Mines won the women’s team championship with 139.50 points, 10.5 more than runner-up University of Colorado-Colorado Springs. UCCS was the men’s team titlist with 143 points. Adams State was second with 105.
CSC’s placings follow:
Women’s Events
60—8, Carlie Collier, 7,87 seconds.
200—6, Carlie Collier, 25.73
Shot put—2, Kyla Sawvell, 50-1
Weight throw—1, Kyla Sawvell, 65-9 ¾; 5, Courtney Smith, 57-7 ½.
High jump—3, Jourdaine Cerenil, 5-6 ½
Men’s Events
400—3, Osvaldo Cano, 49.12
60 hurdles—4, Creighton Trembly, 8.05.
4x400 relay—6, Chadron State. 3:22.3.
Shot put—7, Daniel Reynolds, 51-7 ¼.
Weight throw—1, Daniel Reynold, 63-4 ¼; 7, Christopher Jennings, 57-10 ¼.
Heptathlon—5, Harley Rhoades, 4,712 points.
