Carlson, Goracke, Oborny & Men’s 4x4 Set Marks; NCAA Field Announced Tuesday
Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney track and field team set four new school-records and had several likely NCAA Championship qualifying efforts this weekend at the Concordia Twilight and Loper Twilight meets. The Concordia meet went deep into Friday night thanks to a four-hour weather delay with the Loper "Last Chance" meet held Saturday at Kearney H.S. The competition came from all over on both days as NCAA and NAIA National Championship qualifiers will be announced next week.
In Seward Friday night, Aurora junior Kyla Carlson broke a nine-year old mark in the 400 hurdles thanks to a 1:02.05. Good for third place and a spot on the national list, the time moved her up four places and past former record holder Chelsea Wickard (1:02.67; May 2014). Also at CU, Kearney super senior Haley Schall won the long jump with a career-best leap of 19-0.75. That moves up three spots to sixth on UNK's all-time list. Finally, Ravenna junior Jack Drahota won the 400 hurdles (53.47), Kearney junior Nicole Messbarger was runner up in the 400 (56.85) and Giltner junior Alex Goracke was fifth in the hammer (191-3). Goracke went almost seven feet further in the hammer "invite" on Saturday – 198-1 – to break the old UNK standard of 197-5, set by Andrew Schuller last May. The next record was set a few hours later when David City redshirt sophomore Gabrielle Oborny cleared 13-1.75 to place fourth in the pole vault. That bests her own record (12-5.50; May 2022) and likely will send her to the NCAA's. This was a good event for the Lopers as both Kearney redshirt junior Courtney Thee and Holdrege sophomore Samantha Schemper tied their career-best height (11-7.75). The final record came in the last event of the weekend as Drahota, Wallace redshirt junior Micah Swedberg, St. Paul freshman Conner Wells and Fremont junior Wes Ferguson won the 4x4 relay (3:09.19). This same group, but in a different order, managed a 3:11.87 a few weeks ago at the Drake Relays. This newest record will scan their ticket to the NCAA's.
Next, Creighton junior Alex Homan is now off the "bubble" as he went a career-best 16-5.50 to finish third in the vault. That moves him up to fifth all-time and, for the moment, into the national Top 15. In the javelin, Kansas true freshmen Rylan Basart (season-best 207-9) and Kenyon Forest (season-best 207-3) placed first and second with Kansas junior Evan Prohaska third (206-0) and Josh Bohlke sixth (career-best 193-9). Basart and Forrest rank 18th and 19th, respectively, in D2; the top 20 in each event head to the NCAA's. Each of the career-best tosses rank in the UNK all-time top seven. Finally on the men's side, Bridgeport senior Connor Wiggins won the discus "open" (162-11) with Alliance junior Brock Brass having the 10th-best time in Loper lore in the 100 (10.71). The women saw Gothenburg junior Hannah Anderson have a career-best 2:13.92 in the 800; that keeps her eighth on the all-time list. She also was the anchor for the 4x4 relay team that had the fourth fastest time in school-history (3:47.22). Messbarger ran the first leg, Carlson the second and Kansas freshman Abby Rose was third. This also ranks UNK 44th nationally. Next, Kansas junior Jaida McEwen won the jav (140-10) with Atlanta freshman Hanna Stewart fifth with the sixth-best toss (128-2) in school-history. Finally, Kearney redshirt freshman Lily Novacek was fourth in the hammer "invite" (188-5) and first in the discus "invite" (160-5). Both are season-best efforts, place her in the UNK all-time top five in both events and rank her eighth (discus) and 13th (hammer), respectively.
The NCAA Championships are Memorial Day Weekend in Pueblo, Colo.
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