Simpson competes with the best at Kip Janvrin Open

INDIANOLA - Kinsey Bak placed second in the high jump, Chelsey Degen provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the discus and the men's team turned in five top-10 finishes at the 2011 Kip Janvrin Open held Thursday and Friday.

Athletes representing 39 college and universities across the United States took place in the sixth annual event, where 13 meet records were broken.

Bak (Hinton, Iowa) tied for second in the high jump, clearing 5-4 1/4. She also placed fourth with a 35-7 1/4 leap in the triple jump.

Already owning the third-longest throw in NCAA Division III, Degen (Algona, Iowa) reached a provisional qualifying mark in the discus. She placed 11th with a toss of 143-4.

Lauren Anderson (Oakland, Iowa) turned in a career performance in the 400-meter hurdles, taking fifth place after running a personal best of time of 64.64. She was the top Division III finisher in the event, trailing three Division I runners and one Division II runner.

The men's team had four seventh-place finishes, led by Brad Vogel's (Donnellson, Iowa) career-best effort in the 100 meters. He ran an 11.04, topping his previous best of 11.18.

The tandem of John Cord (Atlantic, Iowa) and Jarrod Schott (Pocahontas, Iowa) fared well in the jumps, as Cord took seventh in the long jump and Schott took seventh in the triple. Cord's leap of 21-6 1/4 is his best effort of the spring and Schott traveled 40-10 1/2 in the triple. Schott added an eighth-place finish in the long jump on the strength of his season's best leap of 21-4 3/4.

Mike Munson (Dakota City, Neb.) represented Simpson well in the shot put, taking seventh with a toss of 44-7 1/2. Ryan Edwardson (Spencer, Iowa) placed 11th in a field of 43-strong in the 5,000 meters, crossing the finish line in 15:35.02. In his final appearance on the track at Buxton Stadium, Ethan Elkin (Altoona, Iowa) matched a career best when he cleared 11-11 3/4 in the pole vault.

During the meet, Simpson recognized its 2011 seniors, Anderson, Degen, Elkin, Catie Ellingson (Indianola, Iowa) and Molly Sabers (Iowa City, Iowa).