KWU Sports Information
EMPORIA – The gold track of the Zola Witten Track at Francis G. Welch Stadium was indeed golden for the Kansas Wesleyan men's track team as the Coyotes opened their season on Friday and Saturday.
The Coyotes had several top performances and set school records and had a NAIA Nationals Qualifier.
Will Griffith won Friday's Bob Tidwell 800m run with a time of 1:56.01. He bested a field of 50 runners, many of which came from NCAA Division I and II schools as well as several NAIA All-Americans.
Simeon Faagai (JR/Ponca City, Okla.) set a new school record in the hammer throw. He bested a 43-year-old record with a toss of 46.96m, which earned him a 15th place finish.
Cole Parker (SR/Corning, Calif.) punched his NAIA Nationals ticket in the first meet of the year, hitting the NAIA B-Standard with a mark of 15.68m, earning him a ninth-place finish.
Arlander Johnson (SO/Salina, Kan.) posted the third best triple jump in school history with a mark of 13.65m finishing fourth and Kamal Murphy had a mark of 13.32m, eighth-best all-time, finishing seventh.
Eryk Kyser (JR/Caney, Kan.) fourth in long jump with a mark of 7.12m.
In addition to Griffith's win in the 800m, Ty Davidson (SO/Lakin, Kan.) placed seventh in 2:00.09, Julian Avila (SO/Manhattan, Kan.) placed 13th in 2:00.86, Giovanni Rios (SO/Temecula, Calif.) placed 31st in 2:05.06, Nicolas Martinez (FR/Coppell, Texas) placed 32nd in 2:05.25 and Remington Wiseman (FR/Howard, Kan.) placed 50th in 2:33.64.
Jack Horacek (SO/Topeka. Kan.) placed 10th in the steeplechase with a time of 10:57.78.
The 4x100m relay team of Eryk Kyser, Riley Garcia (FR/San Antonio, Texas), AJ Johnson and Tyler Fontenot (FR/Houston, Texas) placed 11th with a time of 43.80.
Cole Parker placed 12th in the javelin with a throw of 53.95m and Keegan Lott (FR/Horton, Kan.) placed 14th with a mark of 52.10m.
In the shot put, Keegan Lott placed 15th with a mark of 13.75m, Dylan Worrell was 16th with a mark of 13.39m, Jonathan Calzada (FR/Salina, Kan.) was 17th with a mark of 13.14m, and Simeon Faagai placed 26th with a mark of 11.15m.
In the 1500m, Giovanni Rios placed 18th with a time of 4:09.70 and Remington Wiseman plaved 55th with a time of 5:13.03.
In the 5000m, Shane Calvin (JR/Lakin, Kan.) placed 21st with a time of 15:31.98, Austin Hess (JR/Garden City, Kan.) placed 24th in 15:35.26 and Jake Cruz (FR/Pasadena, Texas) placed 29th in 15:51.99.
Eryk Kyser placed 25th in the 200m with a time of 22.31 seconds. Conner LaRosa (SO/Herington, Kan.) finished 80th with a 24.19 and Tyler Fontenot was 83rd with a 24.60.
In the discus, Simeon Faagai placed 26th with a mark of 39.32m, and Keegan Lott placed 27th with a mark of 39.18m.
Jonathan Calzada placed 29th in the hammer with a mark of 38.63m.
Kamal Murphy placed 31st in the 400m hurdles with a time of 63.37 seconds.
In the 400m, Riley Garcia placed 48th with a time of 52.71 seconds and Conner LaRosa placed 53rd in 54.16.
Tyler Fontenot finished 71st in the 100m with a time of 11.91 seconds.