MANKATO, Minn. – UNI track and field tallied 12 first-place finishes at the Ted Nelson Dual meet against Minnesota State on Saturday.
Graduate student Darius King and senior Tayshaun Cooperpicked up two first-place finishes apiece. King captured gold in the men’s shot put (18.81m) and weight throw (18.83m) while Cooper won the men’s 60 meters (6.82) and 200 meters (22.04). Placing first in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, sophomore Jack Sumners recorded a time of 8.13, tying the personal-best he set in Waverly on Jan. 29. Freshmen Drake Hanson and Parker Kiewiet also had strong performances, posting first-place finishes and personal-bests in the men’s mile (4:23.40) and the men’s long jump (7.30m), respectively.
On the women’s side, the Panthers took the top four spots for the women’s 800 meters with freshman Sophia Junglingleading the pack, clocking a personal-best time of 2:13.47. Following Jungling to take second, third, and fourth was junior Paige Holub (2:15.66, PR), sophomore Noel James (2:18.00, PR) and freshman Sydney Schaffer (2:18.44), respectively. In the women’s 5000 meters, junior Mia Rampton placed first with a personal-best time of 18:32.56. Junior Cierra Laux earned gold with a personal-best mark of 3.81m in the women’s pole vault and freshman Riley Todd recorded a win in the women’s high jump with a personal-best leap of 1.66m. UNI closed out the meet with a first-place finish in the women’s 4×400 meter relay with sophomore Jill Bennett, junior Tyler Gray, and sophomores Auriona Kimbrough and Erin Kerkhoff stopping the clock at 3:57.95.
Up Next
The Panthers are slated to compete at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, on Feb. 12-13.
