Thursday, April 23rd, the Men and Women’s Track team hosted their annual “Thursday Night Twilight.”
“The meet we do on Thursday is always fun. It shakes up our schedule a bit and lets us compete where we practice everyday making it feel like we have an advantage going into the meet,” said Kayla Braun.
Among those many PRs was Braun in the shot put with a throw of 14.00m. As of Thursday night, the throw placed her at no.4 in the country amongst D3 athletes, also earning her a national qualifying mark.
“Getting that national qualifying mark was a huge sigh of relief. I mean, we work towards competing the best at conference while still hoping to make Nationals. It was a goal of mine to return back there after making it last year and achieving that goal with a few weeks left in the season lets me enjoy the time I have left with my team and wearing a Fighting Scots jersey instead of feeling like I’m under so much pressure.”
With seven teams participating, the track meet is a lot smaller than what the Scots usually attend during outdoor season, but with 30+ personal records set, it’s no wonder that the annual Thursday meet is a continued tradition.
Jillian Toth also won the hammer throw with a season best of 52.71m, which jumped her to no.10 in the country as of Thursday night. She went to Drake Relays the next day and topped that throw with a throw of 53.78m for a new season’s best and moved up to no.5 in the country as of Saturday, April 25th. “It was an ecstatic feeling when the number was read off from the laser. I have been stressing the last few weeks about securing my spot for nationals, it was a weight lifted off my shoulders. I’m nowhere near done pushing my limits, but it was a great step for me,” said Toth.
Logan Morse won the high jump with a new season best of 1.91m and later went on to lead off a winning 4x400 relay.
Both men and women’s relays placed first overall, with the women’s 4x100 (Maddie Rusk, Sophie Kern, Hazel Hill, A’iyana Maxwell) setting a new season best of 51.93s and the men’s 4x400 (Logan Morse, Patrick Curry Jr, Anthony Arambula, and Adrian Outlaw) setting a new season best of 3:26 seconds.
“The vibes were pretty good, I got to run with my boy again in the 4x400 after over a year, and we ended the day off pretty strong. I enjoyed myself,” said Adrian Outlaw.