Eagles Compete Well in Windy Conditions

Coming out of their first meet of the year, the Eagles had a quick turnaround as the Central College Invitational was moved up a day to avoid the storms forecasted for Saturday. The schedule change and wind that would not cooperate would not, however, stop the Eagles from having another great day at their meet.

Once again, several runners were moments away from qualifying for nationals in their events. With less than half a second separating them from the qualifying mark, both Hannah Wernli and Sierra Pearson kicked off their events with an excellent 100m hurdle performance to set the stage for track events.

Field events brought the excitement on Friday, as the team combined for five PRs and two season highs. Luke Akins threw a personal best in discus, and season high in shot put, while Eli Boatman led the charge for the throwers. Belle Wirges (discus) and Sadie Long (javelin) led the squad for the women's events. Sadie Long jumped to a new season best in the high jump, and is now 0.02m away from the national qualifying mark, one she's sure to reach soon.

In two exciting moments, Jermaine Boyd set a new program record in the long jump, posting a mark of 6.23m and beating the old record set by Andy Hecker in 2024. The grand finale for the day featured the 4x400 team consisting of Annika Bauer, Becca Hulinsky, Lydia Mueller, and Carlie Blevins. This relay group finished their race in 4:34.65, beating the previous program record by 20 seconds (previous record of 4:54 set in 2024).

Full team results can be found here.

Up Next: The Eagles take part in a two day meet in Waverly, IA starting on Friday, April 4th and ending on Saturday, April 5th. Event schedule/details will be posted as they become available.