RedTail Men's Track and Field Take Ninth Place at the Augustana Meet Of Champions

ROCK ISLAND, ILL.—The RedTails Men's Track and Field team competed at the Meet of Champions, hosted by Augustana College on April 19-20. They finished in ninth place out of 24 teams with a score of 53 points. It was a cold day, but the athletes still performed well under the conditions.

Sophomore Brandt Williams qualified for nationals in the hammer throw with a throw of 49.75m and finished in 11th place. This throw moves him back up to number two all-time for Hawkeye's top-10.

Sophomore Tino Tamayo finished in seventh place in the shot put with a throw of 13.66m, 14th in the hammer throw with a throw of 47.75m, and in the javelin finished in 11th with a throw of 42.25m.  In the discus, Adam Smith finished 12th place with a throw of 43.74, and Williams finished 17th with a throw of 42.90m. Smith finished in 19th in the javelin with a throw of 37.55m.

The RedTails had a great showing in the 400-meter Dash. Freshman Evan Kearney finished in fifth place with a time of 50.69. Sophomore Carter Even had a big personal record of 50.71 and finished in sixth place. Sophomore Sean Knockel finished in eighth place with a time of 50.98.  Kaden Miller finished in 25th with a time of 52.18, and Caden Stimmel finished in 28th with a time of 52.51.

RedTails had another great showing in the 200-meter dash. Freshman Liam Carlson has a personal record of 22.36 and finished in 18th. Knockel had a personal record of 22.67 and finished in 23rd. Freshman Jackson Rhomberg had a personal record of 22.91 and finished in 29th. 

In the 110-meter hurdles, freshman Kasey Wirtjes placed sixth in the preliminaries with a time of 15.65 to qualify himself for the finals. He placed seventh out of nine guys in the finals with a time of 15.93.

In the 400-meter hurdles sophomores, Noah Sheridan finished in fourth place, and Kenny Cutler finished in fifth place. They both had a time of 56.74.

The 4x100 Meter Relay of Caden Stimmel, Kearney, Even, and Carlson took fourth place with a time of 43.08 out of thirteen teams.

In the high jump, freshman Nathan McFarland finished in 13th, and sophomore Matthew Benedict finished in 14th. Both finished with a jump at the 5-10.50 height.

The RedTails will be in action this week as some will participate in Drake Relays from April 24-27, 2024. The rest of the team will be at Viking Classic at the Grand View on Friday  April 26,2024.  Coach Roberts is looking forward to this weekend's temperature, which should help as we gear up for regionals in the first week of May.