NCAA Championships in Two Weeks
Kearney, Neb. – Veteran distance runners Wes Ferguson and Luke Stuckey won MIAA titles and Nicole Messbarger and Micah Swedberg set new 600-yard school records to pace Nebraska Kearney on the final day of the 2023 MIAA Indoor Championships in Pittsburg, Kan. The three-day meet began Friday with the multi-events and ran until 5:30 p.m. on Sunday. Not surprisingly, the host Gorillas easily won the both the men's (208.50 points) and women's (183) races. The Loper men picked up 50 points in distance events today to help the team tally 79 points overall, good for third place and just ahead of rival Fort Hays State (76). Missouri Southern (100.50) was the runner up; this marks UNK's second straight top three finish. The women came in eighth (36) but was just 10 points shy of a fifth-place finish. Unfortunately, the Lopers placed ninth in two events today and well as 10th in two others. Northwest Missouri (130) was the runner up with the Lopers one of four teams between 36-45 points. Ferguson (Fremont) won his third straight MIAA indoor 800-meter title by turning in a 1:50.85. This marks his seventh consecutive 800-meter indoor win, dating back to last year's NCAA prelims. Stuckey won his first league indoor title by taking the mile in 4:06.64. Ferguson was eighth (4:13.69) with David City sophomore Payton Davis sixth (career-best 4:09.39). Next, Firth freshman Tanner Cooper also scored in the 800 (6th; 1:12.48). Finally, Stuckey was third in the 3,000 with a career-best 8:22.31, the third best time school history. Ainsworth redshirt junior Ben Arens (8th/8:26.62) also scored in this event. Swedberg (2nd/1:10.90) and St. Paul freshman Conner Wells (3rd/1:11.06) both surpassed the old 600-yard school record of 1:11.56, set by Seth Simonson in 2019. Fremont freshman Tyson Baker came in eighth (1:12.48) as well with Messbarger (Kearney) breaking her own mark set just last night in prelims. Her 1:22.37 was good for second place and eight team points.
Finally on the track, the 4x4 relay team came in seventh with the eighth-best time in Loper lore (3:17.86). Baker was the anchor, Wells ran third, Swedberg second and Ravenna junior Jack Drahota lead. In the field events, Creighton redshirt sophomore Alex Homan was fifth in the vault (15-.11.75) with Giltner redshirt senior Alex Goracke seventh in the shot (54-3.50). The women's 4x4 relay team turned in the second-best time in school history but that was good for a night place finish. The group consisted of Messbarger, Kansas freshman Abby Rose, Aurora sophomore Kyla Carlson and Gothenburg junior Hannah Anderson. Finally, Fremont sophomore Mara Hemmer was seventh in the mile (5:02.56) with Albion redshirt sophomore Jordan Soto-Stopak cracking the all-time Loper top 10 in the 3,000 (10:13.27). The effort was good for ninth place. The list of NCAA Championships qualifiers will be released early this week; the meet is March 10-11 in Virginia Beach. The outdoor season begins in mid-March, weather permitting.
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