Pride have meet to remember at 2024 Heart Indoor Championships
MARYVILLE, Mo. - Wrapping up the indoor season for a majority of the team, the Clarke University track and field teams earned a fifth place team finish for the women and an eighth place finish for the men at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Indoor Championships on Saturday.
The two-day event saw the Pride break seven school records, have three individuals solidify their spot to the NAIA National Championship meet, and earn 12 medals between nine individuals and a relay team for the meet.
Coming off of a cross country season that established her as one of the top runners in program history, Rory Bickler was able to continue her stellar senior season at the Heart Indoor meet as she earned three medals with a bronze in the mile with a at a 5:16.32 and silvers in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter runs at 10:46.66 in the 3K followed by a 18:31.92 in the 5K, both of which clocked in as new school records.
One of CU's event wins also included a podium sweep, not just with three athletes but four, as the women's pole vault saw the top four marks come from the Pride with the gold going to Grace Squires at a 3.32-meter clearance followed by Emma Grant finishing with the silver at 3.17 meters and the bronze tie going to Autumn McLaughlin and Evelyn Lee, both clearing 3.02 meters.
The second and final gold of the meet for Clarke came from the women's distance medley relay as Jaide Bittinger, Isabelle Matthews, Keona Coleman, and Megan Hageman closed out a 13:01.04 to win the event by 10 seconds.
Three national qualifiers all came on the men's side as Daniel Adams followed up his NAIA B Standard high jump last week by guaranteeing his spot at the NAIA Championships by hitting the A Standard with a 2.08-meter clearance to finish with the silver medal and stand alone with a new school record.
James Vandun also booked a ticket to Brookings, S.D. with his silver medal finish in the heptathlon, earning 4,786 points over the seven events to set a new school record and currently sit with the 11th-best mark in the NAIA this season as the top-16 qualify for the NAIA meet as he will be joining teammate Brody Deitering to compete in the heptathlon at nationals.
Clarke's final national qualifier is no stranger to NAIA Championship appearances as Noah Church finished with a third place finish in the 3,000 meter racewalk with a time of 14:13.90 to hit the A Standard by over 30 seconds to make his third-straight trip to indoor nationals for the racewalk.
The last school record to fall for the Pride came from the legs of Gavayne Smith as the sophomore clocked in at the 200-meter dash with a 22.16-second eighth place finish.
Full results can be found here: https://results.blacksquirreltiming.com/meets/30029/teams/765989
Deitering, Vandun, Adams, Smith, and Church will now prepare for the NAIA Indoor Championships that will take place from Feb. 29 to Mar. 2 at the Sanford Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings to close out the indoor season for CU.