Storm begin IIAC Indoor Championships today
DUBUQUE, Iowa — The Simpson track and field teams begin competition at the Iowa Conference Indoor Championships on Friday, Feb. 24 from McDonald Indoor Track at the University of Dubuque. The meet begins Friday and concludes Saturday.
The Storm men had a breakthrough performance at last year's indoor meet, placing third and taking home coaching staff of the year honors. Head coach Dave Cleveland and the Storm look to build on last year's effort while the women's team hopes to have a breakthrough of their own.
MEET INFORMATION
Date/Time: Friday, Feb. 24, 10 a.m. • Saturday, Feb. 25, 9 a.m.
Venue: McDonald Indoor Track • Dubuque, Iowa
Links: Heat Sheets • Live Results • Live Video
WHAT TO WATCH
Men's 55 meters — Led by Emmitt Wheatley's top qualifying time, the Storm own 3 of the top 4 times in the IIAC. Wheatley (6.94), Travis Tupper (7.01, 2nd) and Dylan Kalinay (7.04, 4th) are among the favorites in the event. Times shown are in the 60 meters, but the 55 will be contested due to shorter track length.
Men's 200 meters — Wheatley again posted the top time in the IIAC, running 22.02 at Grinnell's Darren Young Classic on Feb. 11, the No. 5 time in Division III. Tupper (22.59) is seeded fifth.
Men's 55 hurdles — The Storm should fare well in the hurdles as well, boasting 3 of the top 6 qualifiers. Leading the way with top time in the IIAC is Kalinay, who ran 8.20 in the 60 hurdles at Grinnell, the No. 10 time in Division III. Also factoring into the mix will be Isaac Frazier (8.55, 3rd) and Sam Adeniyi (8.60, 6th).
Men's 4x200 relay — The defending conference champion in the event, the Storm come in with the No. 2 time in the IIAC behind Dubuque. Three of the four members of the relay remain from last season, as Wheatley, Kalinay and Tupper are slated to run. Either Chase Wetterling for Keagan Zweifel will complete the quartet.
Men's Heptathlon — Frazier is the defending conference champion in the event, earning Field MVP honors in 2016. He enters with the No. 2 score in the IIAC with 4,418 points. He scored 4,654 points to win in 2016.
Women's 3,000 meters — Courtney Neuendorf has had a solid season for the Storm middle distance runners. The junior comes into the weekend with the No. 7 time in the IIAC of 10:37.59, which she ran her last time out. If she continues to improve, she has a good chance to score points for the Storm.
Women's 5,000 meters — Briana McCloskey has the No. 10 time in the IIAC with a 19:38.61 earlier this season. Her career-best indoors is 19:22.68, which would put her in contention for a top-eight finish.
Women's 400 meters — Jaycie Owens has improved each time out in the 400 this season and has her sights set on cracking the 1 minute mark. Her 1:03.97 is 11th in the IIAC going into the weekend.
Women's 1 Mile — Though she has only run the Mile twice this season, junior Sadie Timms improved by nearly 7 seconds from her first race to her second. Her 5:25.50 puts her at 12th in the IIAC with a cluster of runners around the 5:20 mark.
