CEDAR FALLS, Iowa ñ University of Northern Iowa junior Tanner Hurt got the Panther men’s track & field team off to a strong start at the 2011 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, setting the school record in the hammer throw on his way to a runner-up finish in the event. | CEDAR FALLS, Iowa ñ University of Northern Iowa junior Tanner Hurt got the Panther men’s track & field team off to a strong start at the 2011 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, setting the school record in the hammer throw on his way to a runner-up finish in the event. Hurt’s mark of 206-01 (62.82m) broke the previous record of 202-05 set by Derrick Benner in 2005.
In fact, Hurt surpassed the previous record on three out of his six attempts, earning his second All-MVC honor and his first-ever in the hammer throw.
Redshirt freshman Adam McDonnell posted a personal-best throw of 184-02 (56.13m) to take fifth place in the hammer throw. McDonnell was not finished, however, as he went on to steal a third place finish in the javelin, throwing another personal best of 200-09 (61.20m). His final throw edged out Adam Capps of Wichita State by one centimeter to secure third place, and it also put McDonnell at No. 4 on the UNI all-time best list.
Freshman Ben Lindaman achieved a personal best mark as well, throwing 189-05 (57.73m) to place sixth.
In all, UNI’s throwers had five personal-best performances on the day.
Sophomore Brett Egan battled through a steady rain in the men’s 10,000m to lock up an eighth-place finish and score one team point for the Panthers.
On the women’s side, senior Rachel VanderHolt concluded her UNI career by taking third place in the javelin. VanderHolt threw 130-04 (39.73) to earn her second career All-MVC honor. Junior Jenna Wexter claimed sixth in the pole vault with a clearance of 11-06.50 (3.52m). Traci Harms notched another personal-best of 186-05 (56.83m) to place eighth in the hammer throw. Harms once again improved her mark that has her No. 2 all-time at UNI in the event.
In multi-events action, Daniel Gooris opened the decathlon with his best-ever performance through the first five events, scoring 3,583 points to stand in fifth place. The reigning MVC decathlon champion started the day with a personal-best clocking of 11.53 seconds in the 100m dash and followed it up with an outdoor career-best mark of 21-07.25 (6.58m) in the long jump. Gooris had another outdoor personal-best in the shot put with his toss of 44-00.50 (13.42m). After clearing 6-01.50 (1.87m) in the high jump, he wrapped up the day with one more personal-best, clocking in at 51.64 in the 400m.
Ben Lindaman currently stands in ninth and Tyler Clark is tenth after the first day of the decathlon. Wichita State’s Krzysztof Slupkowski leads with 3,936 points.
Senior Lauren Lindaman and junior Johanna Smith are seventh and ninth, respectively, in the heptathlon after the first four events.
The UNI men are in third in the team race with 22 points after the first day. Southern Illinois leads with 45 points after taking the top three spots in the men’s 10,000m. Illinois State is second with 25 points.
The Panther women are currently in fifth with 10 early points. Southern Illinois leads the women’s race with 46 points.
Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championship action will resume Saturday at 10:30 a.m. with the decathlon at the Messersmith Track & Field Complex in Cedar Falls. Field events are slated to begin at 3 p.m., with track events set to start at 5:00 p.m.
