Panthers flourish at Meet of Champions

BRADEN

ELTON Sports Writer

The Panthers found themselves with an abrupt change of plans as they traveled to Rock Island, Ill. this weekend to compete in Augustana’s Meet of Champions. The change in schedule did not affect UNI as they returned home with seven first place finishes. Despite only competing on Friday, the men’s team finished third in team scoring while the women’s team finished first.

Makenna Wilson began the afternoon by clinching both the women’s discus and shot put titles. Wilson threw a career-best 160 feet, 1.25 inches in the discus. Katie Fare followed Wilson as she finished in fifth place with a throw of 141 feet, 8.25 inches, with Allison Flanscha placing seventh with a career-best throw of 133 feet, 7 inches. In shot put, UNI claimed the top two spots thanks to Wilson (49 feet, 6.5 inches) and Sarah Byrd, who was just behind Wilson with a throw of 45 feet, 8 inches. Mari Shavers took fifth place in shot put as well (42 feet, 6.5 inches).

For a second week in a row, Brendan Safley stood on top of the podium in first place for men’s pole vault, notching his second best mark with 16 feet, 2 inches. Last week at the Drake Jim Duncan Invitational, Safley had a career high 16 feet, 7 inches, taking first place there as well.

Jack Sumners took first place in men’s long jump with a jump of 23 feet, 10.5 inches, beating out the second place finisher by 2.25 inches. The victory marked his first field event win of the outdoor season.

Paige Holub was able to claim her first victory since 2021 as she won the women’s 1500-meter run with a time of 4:38:20.

Ella Popenhagen followed close behind as she finished in fourth place with a time of 4:41:88, her career best. The Panthers also placed four individuals in the top 10 of the women’s 400-meter hurdles. Darci Wiseman led UNI with a first place finish with a time of 1:04:49.

Anna Winterrowd placed second with a time of 1:05:76, while Amelia Hill and Clare Basala finished sixth and eighth, respectively.

Emily Vos was able to take home first place in the women’s 200-meter dash with a time of 24.42 seconds. Libby Wedewer came in third place with a time of 24.73 seconds, while Madelyn Sanda and Eden Barret finished fifth and eighth, respectively. In the men’s 200-meter dash, Tinashe Chigudu crossed the finish line in second place with a career best time of 21.35 seconds. Luke Meyers came in sixth, also running a career best with a time of 21.71 seconds.

Looking ahead to the upcoming week, the Panthers will be competing at the infamous Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa. The meet starts on Wednesday, April 26, and finishes on Saturday, April, 29. The meet can be streamed on USATF.TV with a premium subscription, or you can watch portions of the meet on your local cable news networks.