On Saturday, February 14th, the Scots hosted their annual Roger Haynes meet, the track meet that pays homage to the former head coach, Roger Haynes (currently the athletic director), who has 38 years as the head coach under his belt.
The meet held a little bit more importance this year because it fell on Valentine’s Day, and what better way to honor that than to spend it on the track competing in the sport many of the athletes hold dear. At the event, winners were awarded a champion shirt, which gives athletes a little something to look forward to.
The Scots had four event winners. Kayla Braun threw 12.79m in the shot put. “Winning the shot put at the Roger Haynes was something special,” said Braun. “I mean, it’s always a great time winning an event, but winning an event at my final Monmouth home meet means a lot,”
Kayla Braun launches the shot put. Photo by Kent Kriegshauser
Davon Patterson winning the 200 with a 22.18 run. “[It] Felt Great to run at home in front of friends and family against some great competition,” said Patterson. “Definitely meant a ton to me win the meet, it showed all the hard work and dedication in practice starting to show a little. I’m extremely excited for myself and the team, and what conference is going to be like going forward. I truly believe we can do something very special.”
Jillian Toth set a new personal record winning the weight throw at 16.28m. Paige Luntsford, who ran 3k just under 11 minutes, came in at 10:59 seconds to beat the second-place competitor from Western Illinois University.
A home meet usually means a big crowd but with it being the Roger Haynes meet, former athletes come back as well to support and cheer on their former teammates or former coaches.
“It’s definitely a different feeling than winning at other meets. You have not only your whole team there, but you have the Monmouth community watching as well. This meet will be one I’ll remember forever,” said Braun.
The Scots’ next meet will be at Illinois Wesleyan on Friday, February 20th, as their last meet before the conference championship at Grinnell.