Mavericks spring into action after spring break
The Northwest Tech Men's and Women's Track teams returned from Spring Break in great form as they attacked their second meet of the outdoor season. They attended the Warrior Quad hosted by Sterling College in Sterling, KS. Combined, the men and women set 7 new school records and had one athlete qualify for the NJCAA National meet in Texas in May.
On a cooler and windier day than expected, the Mavericks faced different set of events than the standard track meet. This meet featured several relays almost exclusively run in the indoor season as well as a full complement of field events. The meet was well designed to allow spectators and team members to view almost every event in its entirety; something that doesn't happen much especially in the field events.
Adam Tate, a sophomore in Collision Repair from Castle Rock, CO, easily won the Hammer Throw, an event he's qualified in for Nationals. He set PRs (personal records) in the Shot and Discus taking 3rd in the Shot and 1st in the Discus. Fellow thrower Tyler Trout, sophomore in Diesel Tech from Lamar, CO, had an impressive showing in the Shot Put, narrowly missing becoming the next qualifier for nationals on his way to win the event.
Freshman Medical Assistant student Purity Jepleting from Kenya set a school record in the 5000m run. This was her second event of the day after having the chance to run with a group of girls from York and Bethany colleges in the 4x800m relay.
Freshman Business student Rohey Singhateh, Atwood, KS, set a new school record in the long jump with a jump of 5.90m (about 19'4.25"). This jump not only qualifies Singhateh for the national meet, but puts her in first place in the nation for NJCAA women.
Freshman Business student Jamall Theodile from New Iberia, LA ran a school record time in the 5000m run of 18:58.16. Theodile was also on the record setting 4x1600m Relay team consisting of Daniel Avarado (FR, CGT, Cozad, NE), Jeffrey Lazo (FR, AT, Denver, CO) and Ace Arteaga (SO, EL, Goodland, KS) and the record setting 4000m Distance Medley Relay team. The Distance Medley Team consisted of Theodile, Kord Albers (SO, EN, Hays, KS), Lazo and Alvarado. The DMR team has improved over 40 seconds since last month's indoor meet at Colorado School of Mines.
Northwest Tech entered two teams in the Sprint Medley relay. Running the 200m legs for the Mavericks were Chris Heath (FR, BT, Denver, CO) and Gabe Longworth (FR, AT, McClave, CO). The 400 leg was Malcolm Peter, freshman in Business from New Iberia, LA and the 800 leg was Jeffrey Lazo. The team finished second with a school record time of 3:50.18. The other relay team consisted of Albers and Justin Johnson (FR, WD, Nacogdoches, TX) on the 200 meter legs, Daniel Avarado on the 400m leg, and Ace Arteaga on the 800m leg.
The 4x100m and 4x200m relay teams consisted of the same four men: Gabe Longworth, Chris Heath, Malcolm Peter, and freshman Business student Justin Banks from Munford, AL. The 4x200 relay set a new school record in the event.
In the Long Jump, Justin Johnson, Justin Banks and, Chris Heath placed 4th, 6th, and 7th respectively.
The next meet for the Mavericks will be at the University of Nebraska, Kearney on April 2nd.