New national qualifier, PRs highlight weekend meets

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Mount Mercy's Ava Conrad joined the list of Mustangs who have qualified for the NAIA indoor national meet with a strong performance in the shot put on Friday at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational hosted by the University of Iowa.

Conrad's toss of 13.43 meters was a personal record and ranks second in school history and 11th in the NAIA this season. The distance also hit the NAIA "B" qualifying standard. She finished fifth in the event and teammate Bre Nail placed seventh with a 12.98 meter throw.

Several more athletes competed in Iowa City, including Caleb Rutherford, Mitch Miller, Luke Nickelson, Ceondae Adams, Keegan Thompson, and the 4x400 meter relay squad. Rutherford and Adams, already national qualifiers, hit the NAIA's "B" standard again in the shot put and 60 meter hurdles. Rutherford finished 15th in the shot put with a toss of 15.51 meters while Adams ran :08.22 in the preliminaries of the 60 meter hurdles.

Thompson raced to the finish line in :22.24 to place 10th in the 200 meter dash. Nickelson competed in the long jump (13th/6.83m) and triple jump (9th/13.94m) while Miller went 16.89 meters in the weight throw to finish 10th. The 4x400 team of Adams, Jordan Schroeder, Nate Keiper, and Thompson finished ninth in 3:24.02.

On Saturday the Mustangs were at the Hilltop Invitational hosted by Cornell. J'Lyn Knutson and Bre Nail earned titles for the women's squad. Knutson won the mile run in 5:19.17 while Nail claimed the shot put (12.73m). On the men's side, Cole Eberly was your winner in the high jump with a leap of 1.85 meters. That's a personal record and fifth-best in school history.

Men's Hilltop Invitational highlights:

Ky Kaufmann: 200m (3rd/:24.03), 60m hurdles (PR/MMU #4/:09.03), shot put (PR/9.40m)
Morgan Batten: 200m (4th/:24.92)
Chris Canas: 400m (4th/:54.39)
Ryan Clancy: 800m (2nd/2:04.74), mile (2nd/4:22.88)
Quinn Swift: mile (PR/4:40.22)
Braydon Kolosick: 60m hurdles (3rd/:09.36)
Cole Eberly: high jump (1st/PR/MMU #5/1.85m)
Oscar Nielsen: high jump (2nd/1.80m)
Caleb Rutherford: shot put (1st/15.50m), weight throw (4th/15.14m)
Mitch Miller: shot put (2nd/14.45m), weight throw (1st/17.26m)
Levi Byrn: shot put (3rd/PR/12.73m)
Alex Paulson: shot put (4th/12.25m), weight throw (PR/13.05m)
Kaden Schilling: weight throw (3rd/15.41m)

Women's Hilltop Invitational highlights:

Annie Leopold: 200m (5th/:29.76), 60m hurdles (4th/:09.94)
Corinne Gadient: 400m (2nd/MMU #4/1:01.95)
J'Lyn Knutson: 800m (2nd/2:33.28), mile (1st/5:19.17)
Abby Knepper: 800m (3rd/2:35.81), mile (4th/PR/5:29.54)
Jessa Day: 800m (5th/2:38.88), mile (PR/5:40.16)
Kayla Overton: mile (5th/PR/5:32.35)
Hailey Hartshorne: high jump (4th/1.40m)
Bre Nail: shot put (1st/12.73m), weight throw (3rd/13.40m)
Ellen Kangas: shot put (2nd/11.82m)
Alyssa Streigel: shot put (3rd/11.40m), weight throw (4th/13.29m)
Natalie DeFord: shot put (4th/10.72m)
Olivia Herring: shot put (PR/10.29m), weight throw (PR/12.54m)
Ava Conrad: weight throw (2nd/PR/14.51m)
Jzonei Jones: weight throw (5th/12.94m)
Grace Kelly: weight throw (PR/12.46m)
Jaclyn Wooldridge: weight throw (PR/12.37m)