Lopers Home Next Saturday at KHS
Kearney, Neb. – The Nebraska-Kearney track and field team won five events and had several big efforts at the annual Emporia State Relays this weekend in Kansas. The large meet began Thursday afternoon with the first half of the multi-events and ran until Saturday evening. A rare scored regular season meet, the Loper men tallied 62.5 points with the women garnering 33.5. This was UNK's first outdoor competition of the spring. On Friday, McCool Junction senior Luke Stuckey won the 5,000 by almost 10 seconds (career-best 14:26.13) with Kearney redshirt freshman Lily Novacek taking the hammer/open (career-best 177-4) by almost 20 feet. Stuckey paced a field of 50 and moves up to third on the UNK all-time list with ninth-place Payton Davis (career-best 14:53.95) now 10th. Novacek ranks sixth in Loper hammer lore. Also on Friday, Hastings redshirt freshman Landon Eckhardt was third out of 55 in the 1,500 (4:03.85) and one of four Lopers in the top 23, Kansas sophomore Brooklyn Staab won the high jump/open (5-3) with Kearney junior Nicole Messbarger 10th out of 75 in the 200 (25.63). Staab came back on Saturday to be ninth out of 57 in the discus (127-8) with 2022 NCAA Championship qualifier Jaida McEwen fifth out of 45 in the javelin (145-7). Finally on the women's side, Stamford freshman Brianna Russell was third in the high jump/invite (5-4.25), Taylor sophomore Jordan Dockweiler was third in the shot/invite (43-6) and Messbarger 21st out of 63 in the 100 (21.53). Now five-time All-American Wes Ferguson (Fremont) led a field of 38 in the 1,500 (career-best 3:53.36) with three-time All-American Brayden Sorensen (Kearney) tops in the high jump/invite (6-9.75). Next, 2023 NCAA indoor qualifier Alex Goracke (Giltner) placed sixth out of 37 in the hammer (185-5) with Ravenna junior Jack Drahota 17th in a field of 60 in the 400 (49.72). Finally, Kansas redshirt freshman Rylan Basart became the third Loper to reach 200 feet in the javelin thanks to a third-place throw of 205-11. He joins teammate Evan Prohaska (211-9) and Darren Grauerholz (212-0) on that rare list. Like Grauerholz, he is a specialist on the Loper football team. UNK and Hastings College co-host the annual Central Nebraska Challenge next Saturday at Kearney High School.
Comments