INDOOR TRACK & FIELD

The HU track and field program officially kicked off its season Saturday afternoon at Purdue Fort Wayne’s Mastodon Opener. The Foresters had a great showing to break five school records and hit six A standards and a B standard.

On the women’s side, the Foresters dominated the 600 meters and mile by claiming the top four and top three spots respectively. Hannah Stoffel won both races in A standard times. In the 600M, her 1:34.31 set a new school record while her mile time of 5:02.00 proved the second fastest time in program history.

Molly Mitchell and Aspen Dirr also automatically qualified for the big dance in both races. Mitchell took 2nd in the 600 meters (1:35.58) and 3rd in the mile (5:02.03) while Dirr finished 2nd in the mile (5:02.02) and 3rd in the 600 meters (1:36.21).

Mara McFarland was the fourth Forester to claim a spot at nationals in the 600 meters by hitting the B standard with her fourth-place finish in 1:38.58. It’s a first for Huntington to have qualified four women in the 600 meters.

While Jordan Adam didn’t earn points for her team in the 300 meters, the junior speedster set a new school record by turning in a time of 45.65. Saige Norris posted the third fastest time in HU history in the 3000 meters by clocking in at 10:36.96 which earned her 4th place honors.

Other point-getters for Huntington included Olivia Von Gunten in the 800 meters (7th, 2:28.27), 4×400 meter relay (8th, 4:20.17), Alyssabeth Cottle in pole vault (3rd, 2.75m), Holly Holton in shot put (7th, PR*10.25m) and weight throw (7th, PR*12.25m) and Emily Wellsand (6th, PR*12.34m).

Based on this weekend’s results at Friday’s GVSU Holiday Open and Saturday’s Mastodon Opener, HU tops the nation in the 600 meters (Stoffel), 1K (Mitchell ), mile (Stoffel), 3K (Stoffel) and 5K (Dirr).

Ball State won the women’s title with 166 points followed by Indiana Tech (136), HU (78), Northern Kentucky (56), Purdue FW (52), IUPUI (37), Taylor (20), Xavier (17), Grace (11) and Goshen (6).

The Forester men had several standout performances which included Avniel Barrow breaking his own school record in the 60 meters by clocking in at 6.97 for 3rd place. He also took 3rd in the 200 meters in 23.07.

Noah Bise also claimed a new program record in long jump with his 3rd place leap of 6.71m. He also earned a point in high jump with his mark of 1.83m which proved the 6th best in school history.

Haile Stutzman brought home the men’s only top finish by winning the 3000 meters in 8:46.75, the fifth fastest time in the HU record books. Cameron Worsham set a new PR and school record in the 60 meter hurdles with his 4th place time of 8.49.

Other point-getters for HU included Seth Parsell in weight throw (6th, 12.99m), Zach Williams in weight throw (8th, 12.84m) and shot put (7th, 12.73m), Kyler Bourne in pole vault (3rd, 3.95m), Kent Yoder in the mile (2nd, 4:28.46), Peyton Depriest in the 300 meters (4th, 36.76), Michael Cheezan in the 800 meters (6th, 2:04.33) and 4×400 meter relay (4th, 3:38.88).

Indiana Tech earned the men’s title with 161 points followed by Taylor (104), Purdue FW (82), HU (72), Grace (51), IUPUI (31), Northern Kentucky (29), Xavier (29) and Goshen (16).

The Foresters head back to Purdue Fort Wayne on January 18 for the Fort Wayne Duals.