Storm duo competes at Wartburg ahead of nationals
WAVERLY, Iowa - Max Cleveland and Ulysses Patterson of the Simpson men's track and field team competed at the Wartburg Qualifier in hopes of cementing a spot in the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships next weekend.
Cleveland, who came into the meet right on the edge of qualifying, knew he had to surpass his career-best of 8.17 seconds he set at last weekend's American Rivers Conference Indoor Championships. Cleveland just did that in the prelims, qualifying into the final in second position with a career-best 8.13 seconds, putting him in sole possession of second place in school history. Cleveland bettered that mark in the final, clocking a time of 8.12, putting him just .01 seconds behind Dylan Kalinay's school record of 8.11 seconds. With the performance, Cleveland moves into 11th place in the country, firmly putting him in the field to compete for a national title.
Patterson was also right near the edge of the projected national field, knowing he had to improve on his career-best in the heptathlon. Patterson got off to a great start, bettering his 60 meter dash time last weekend with a time of 7.40, before winning the long jump competition with a mark of 6.52 meters. Patterson was still ahead of his pace last weekend after day one of the heptathlon and then set a career-best in the 60 meter hurdles on day two with a time of 8.79. However, Patterson unfortunately recorded a DNF in the final event of the competition, the 1000 meter run, finishing sixth overall in the competition.
Cleveland's performance means he tentatively joins teammates Spencer Moon and Carter Berkey for the trip to nationals. At the time of writing, all three athletes recorded a qualifying mark across their four events. Moon will compete in the 3000 and 5000 meters, holding the school records in each and also winning a conference title in each distance last weekend. Berkey will compete in the long jump, with his school-record mark of 7.22 meters putting him 16th in the country.
An official announcement of all qualifiers will be made tomorrow. The NCAA Division III Indoor Championships will take place next Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.
