Moon’s five broken records lead to SC ESPY award
INDIANOLA, Iowa – After breaking five school records between the indoor and outdoor track and field seasons, junior Spencer Moon was awarded the title of 2021-22 SC ESPY Record-Breaking Performer of the Year.
Moon broke two individual records in each of the indoor and outdoor seasons and was the anchor leg of the distance medley relay which set a new school mark in February.
The Lake City, Iowa native opened the indoor season by breaking his own school record in the 3,000-meter run at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational hosted by Iowa. He lowered the record again two meets later, crossing the finish line in 8:15.14 to take a total of 20 seconds off his record mark from the 2019-20 season that at the time was the fastest in 32 years.
One week later, Moon etched his name atop the 5,000-meter leaderboard with a time of 14:22.41 at the South Dakota State Indoor Classic. The previous record holder was Danny Bauer who ran a 14:25.87 during the 1985 season. The quartet of Ryan Courtney, Max Cleveland, James Murray and Moon later shaved four seconds off the distance medley relay record at the A-R-C Indoor Championships, clocking a 10:08.62.
Moon's third individual record of the year came at the UW-Platteville Invitational where he took eight seconds off his mark from 2021 in the outdoor 5,000-meters (14:18.76). Later in the season, he ran a 14:53.00 to be crowned the A-R-C's 5K Champion. He was Simpson's first outdoor champion since 2018 and the first distance runner to earn a title since 2012.
The program's 1500-meter record set by Jeff Brooks in 1986 was the last to fall this year. Moon topped Brooks' mark of 3:50.58 at the Dr. Tucker Open with a time of 3:47.87. The three-time national qualifier narrowly missed a complete sweep of distance records as he was just three seconds shy of claiming the school's 10K mark as well.
The Record-Breaking Performer of the Year honor is the first of eight awards to be announced by the Simpson College Athletic Department. The remaining SC ESPYs will be announced throughout the rest of the week.
