Maryville, Mo. – The Truman State men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Mel Tjeerdsma Classic hosted by Northwest Missouri State on Friday, December 6, at Hughes Fieldhouse, with multiple Bulldogs earning top-eight finishes across various events.
Women's Highlights
Distance Events Lead the Way
The Bulldogs' women found their greatest success in the distance events. Raina Baker paced the 800-meter run field with a winning time of 2:19.26, outpacing the competition by over two seconds. Teammate Phoebe Canatsey finished third in the same event with a time of 2:22.94, while Maddie Sims placed fifth in 2:24.48.
The mile run saw four Truman runners finish in the top eight. Anna Ripley led the Bulldogs with a victory in the mile with a time of 5:16.80, followed closely by McKenna Ledgerwood in second (5:17.26) and Canatsey in third (5:17.41). Sarah Williams added a fourth-place showing in 5:19.20, while Clare Stahr rounded out the scoring in sixth place (5:24.09). Kendra Zeilstra finished seventh in the 800 meters with a time of 2:27.54.
In the 5000-meter run, Kate Doyle led the Bulldogs with a sixth-place finish in 19:09.06. Breanna Mathes placed eighth overall in 19:14.91, while Ellie Webb crossed the line in ninth with a time of 19:16.46.
Field Events
In the high jump, Novel Taegen cleared 1.46m to finish 14th overall, while three additional Bulldogs competed in the event.
Sprints and Hurdles
Claire Burks competed in the 400-meter dash, finishing with a time of 59.37 seconds. Kaela Perez placed in the 60-meter hurdles preliminaries with a time of 9.92 seconds.
Relays
The Bulldogs' 4x400-meter relay team of Claire Burks, Raina Baker, Tess Harper, and Maddie Sims finished fifth with a time of 4:06.57.
Men's Highlights
Middle Distance Success
Brycen Compton led the Truman men with a seventh-place finish in the 800-meter run, clocking 1:57.63. Wyatt Gustafson placed 15th in 1:59.92, while Michael Bottary finished 18th (2:01.12) and Willem Hummel came in 24th (2:02.61).
In the mile run, Ryan Gustafson finished ninth overall with a time of 4:26.09, while Evan Wilke placed 14th in 4:31.91. Noah Combs rounded out the Bulldogs' milers in 32nd place with a 4:50.08.
Distance Running
The men's 5000-meter run featured strong performances from several Bulldogs. Jacob Gutzman finished 18th in 15:37.65, followed by Nolan Meara in 23rd (15:48.06) and Jacob Snyder in 26th (16:06.18). Andrew Kuehler placed 30th with a time of 16:17.93.
Sprints
Brandon Howard narrowly missed qualifying for the 60-meter dash finals, finishing ninth in the preliminaries with a time of 6.97 seconds. In the 200-meter dash, Howard placed 15th overall with a time of 22.62.
Hurdles
Trevor Norman competed in the 60-meter hurdles, finishing ninth in the preliminaries with a time of 8.68 seconds.
Field Events
In the high jump, Max McMullin cleared 1.92m to finish eighth overall, while Gavin Pike tied for 16th at 1.82m. Hayden Long also competed, clearing 1.72m.
The long jump saw Hayden Long record a mark of 6.41m, while Gavin Pike jumped 6.01m. Hunter Keene also competed in the event. Nick Fuess competed in both the long jump and high jump.
Throws
In the shot put, Tyler Davis led the Bulldogs with a seventh-place finish, recording a mark of 15.57m (51-01.00). Alex Long threw 14.18m to place 17th, while Justin McKim finished 18th with a throw of 14.02m. Dom Novotny, Jackson Figo, and Kayla Spieler also competed for Truman.
In the weight throw, Carl Aaron threw 13.71m to finish 25th, while Dom Novotny placed 26th (13.60m) and Jackson Figo was 28th (13.28m). Tyler Davis, Grant Gabriel, Carter Zehr, and Emily Harris also represented the Bulldogs in the weight throw.
Relays
The men's 4x400-meter relay team of Michael Bottary, Alex Marberry, Trevor Norman, and Brycen Compton finished seventh with a time of 3:26.71.
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will continue their indoor track and field season with one more meet before the holiday break, competing in the Central College Dutch Holiday Preview next Friday.
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