SEATTLE—In their second straight appearance at the Dempsey Indoor, the Concordia track & field squads combined to set six school records over two days of action at the University of Washington Invitational this weekend.

NyEma Sims continued to post impressive early performances for the Cavaliers with a pair of strong marks in the short sprints. After coming up just .02 off her own school record in the 60-meter dash with a 7.53 for a fourth-place finish, Sims ran a 24.29 to win the event and smash her own mark in the 200.

As of Saturday afternoon, both marks for Sims rank second overall on the NAIA Indoor performance list. In less than a month Sims has chopped more than two seconds off the school record in the 200 which stood at 26.41 entering the year.

Also registering the second best mark in the NAIA, Junia Limage crossed the line in 2:13.24 in the 800 to better the former school record of 2:15.14 by a healthy margin. Limage, already automatically qualified to nationals in the event, erased nearly four full seconds off her previous indoor best.

A pair of Cavs earned the ‘A’ standard on the men’s side as Cory Pena darted to a 1:52.90, just off his own school best of 1:52.57, and Jasen Brown cruised to a 1:54.36.

Both 5,000-meter run records were nearly eclipsed on Saturday as Matthew Clowes took fourth place overall with a 14:05.32 to batter the previous mark of 14:33.22 set by former All-American Eric Burck in 2010. Moving down to the 3,000, Cordeo Cisneros hit the NAIA 'A' standard with an 8:39.70.

Joining Clowes in the event, Andrew Landstrom fell just shy of becoming just the fourth Cavalier to crack the 15-minute barrier, but settled for an NAIA ‘A’ qualifier with a time of 15:00.32.

On the women’s side, Gina Paletta placed eighth with a 17:10.58 to earn auto status to nationals while threatening the all-time CU indoor best of 17:09.49 which was set by Alice Taylor in 2010.

Another school record occurred in the long jump where Jordan Reeher added slightly to the men’s record with a 22-4 1/2 leap, nudging the former mark of 22-3 3/4 set by current Cavalier Jameson Futter.

In the men’s heptathlon, Matthew Waters tallied 4,777 points, the highest total in school history, to easily reach the minimum standard for national qualifying in the seven-discipline event. A returning All-American in the triple jump, Branko Djuricic closed in on his indoor CU personal best in the high jump with a 6-6 3/4 clearance.

In the final event of the meet, the quarter of Edgar Vazquez, Andre Washington, Reeher and Pena combined to set the CU standard in the 1,600-meter relay with a 3:21.59 in a second-place finish.

Setting a personal best, Andre Washington moved into the No. 2 spot on CU’s performance list in the 400 with a 50.35 while Eric Tolento matched the ranking with a 7.21 in his CU debut in the 60-meter dash.

In the men’s weight throw, Bo Johnson improved his provisional status in the event to punching an automatic ticket to nationals with a 59-6 3/4 heave which garnered fourth place. Johnson improved by more than five feet from his first performance of the year while closing in on his career best of 60-11 1/2.

In the women’s weight, Gabriella Dixson set a season best with a 55-5 1/2 effort for eighth place. Meanwhile, in the men’s shot, Nate Moses cracked the auto mark barrier with a launch of 51-9 3/4 to take fifth place. Teammate Ismael Osorio followed in ninth place with a personal record toss of 49 1 3/4.

Improving onher national standing, Eunice Makinde finished with a season best of 9.15 in the 60 hurdles.

“I was extremely pleased with our competitive efforts in every event area,” CU head coach Randy Dalzell said. “From NyEma starting the meet with her 200 to the men’s 1,600-meter, they really bookended a ton of great performances. We got out of the meet exactly what we were hoping to.”

 

UW Invitational

University of Washington

Dempsey Indoor

Seattle, Wash.

Jan. 27-28

 

Men’s Results

60: 23. Eric Tolento, 7.21. 400: 14. Andre Washington, 50.35. 800: 17. Cory Pena, 1:52.90; 29. Jasen Brown, 1:54.36. 3,000: 42. Cordero Cisneros, 9:39.70. 5,000: 4. Matthew Clowes, 14:05.32; 19. Andrew Landstrom, 15:00.32; 28. Taylor Adrian, 15:47.18. Long Jump: 5. Jordan Reeher, 22-4 1/2 (6.82m). High Jump: T12. Branko Djuricic, 6-6 3/4 (2.00m). Shot: 5. Nate Moses, 51-9 3/4 (15.79m); 9. Ismael Osorio, 49-1 3/4 (14.98m). Weight Throw: 4. Bo Johnson, 59-6 3/4 (18.15m); 10. Nate Moses, 50-10 3/4 (15.51m); 11. Matthew Webster, 50-7 1/4 (15.42m). Heptathlon: 6. Matt Waters, 4,074 (7.44; 20-11 1/4 [6.38m]; 38-9 [11.81m]; 6-4 [1.93m]; 9.12; 13-1 1/2 [4.00m] 2:56.08). 1,600 Relay: 2. Concordia, 3:21.59 (Edgar Vazquez, Andre Washington, Jordan Reeher, Cory Pena).

 

Women’s Results

60 (finals): 4. NyEma Sims, 7.55. 60 (pre): 3. NyEma Sims 7.59. 200: 1. NyEma Sims, 24.29. 800: 19. Junia Limage, 2:13. 24; 46. Natalie Ball, 2:22.60. 5,000: 8. Gina Paletta, 17:10.58. 60 Hurdles: 18. Eunice Makinde, 9.15. Triple Jump: (Foul) Kristin Sass. Shot: 8. Gabriella Dixson, 43-9 1/4 (13.34m). Weight Throw: 8. Gabriella Dixson, 55-5 1/2 (16.82m); 18. Sharayah Kenady, 45-0 1/4 (13.72m); 25. Breezy Wentz, 41-5 (12.62m).