Friday, February 27th, the Scots headed to Grinnell to compete in the Midwest Indoor Track & Field Championship. The men’s team placed fourth overall, and the women’s team placed sixth overall. Two event wins came from the shot put by seniors Kayla Braun and Blake Orwig. Braun threw the shot put 13.33 meters, and Orwig threw 15.36 meters.
With a huge PR in the weight throw, Braun also won the weight throw the following day, which led to a sweep in throws for her.
“Being able to win both of the throws was a goal of mine coming into the season. I’ve come as close as second in past years, but finally getting the job done in my senior year was an amazing feeling and will be another part of my track career I’ll remember for a long time.” Safe to say it became a lot more memorable when Braun was awarded field performer of the year during the award ceremony. She was made a first-time conference champ on Friday, and Saturday topped it off.. “I went into shot put with great confidence on how it would end, but the weight throw was the real shock because I threw a huge PR and was able to come away with the win in a close competition.”
Lane Grice took first in pole vault clearing 3.90m which was a new personal record. Grice was followed by teammates Matthew Bright and Kayden Fogleson for second and third place.
“First off, it was super special being able to stand on the podium with two of my teammates and share that moment with them is something I’ll never forget. All three of us combining for 24 points in the pole vault is pretty crazy. Conference championships aren’t won off solo performances — it takes a bunch of guys stepping up and stacking points together, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Lane Grice, Matthew Bright, and Kaden Fogleson stand together after sweeping pole vault. Photo by Patrick Curry Jr.
Grice switched over to pole vault at the beginning of outdoor season last year, as a way to help the team pick up a few extra points. Fast forward a couple of months, and he is the conference champion. “Even though we didn’t win the conference championship, our group left knowing that we dominated and that our effort and performance helped keep us in the picture and gave us a fighting chance as a team.”
Tashawn Ruffin also went and grabbed another conference championship in the triple jump, doing it in back-to-back indoor seasons. After Illinois College’s Jacob Kollman took the lead with a jump of 13.50m, Ruffin followed up with a jump of 13.90m to snatch the lead back, and he would keep the lead for the rest of the night, becoming a back-to-back indoor champion in the Triple Jump. The Scots also had a winner in the high jump. After clearing 1.90m, four jumpers remained in competition. But only one would clear the next height at 1.93m, Logan Morse. After clearing the bar on his third and final attempt at 1.93, Morse had solidified his spot as the High jump champion.
“I think it’s a result of the prep all year and the work that I put in during the off-season and in the fall just coming together at the conference meet,” said Morse.