Cloud County Track Closes Out Weekend with Split Squad Action at KU Relays, Bethel Invitational
A third-straight day of competition for the Cloud County Community College women's and men's track and field teams would see split-squad action take place at two different meets within the state of Kansas with the T-Birds posting a total of 14 top-eight marks between the final day of the 2023 KU Relays and the 2023 Bethel College Invitational on Saturday, April 15th.
A majority of the action on Saturday would come down in North Newton, Kansas at the Bethel Invitational as weather would impact the schedules of both meets with the KU Relays ultimately being ended early due to a mixture of cold weather and rainfall that occurred on Friday and into the day on Saturday.
In Lawrence, CCCC would top-two finishes from sophomores Vimbayi Maisvorewa (400 meters, 53.95 seconds) and Miracle Thompson (100-meter hurdles, 13.77 seconds) as Maisvorewa would follow up her top qualifying time in the 400 meters for an event win while Thompson would take second with her second-best 100-meter hurdle time of the season. The T-Birds would also get a pair of top-eight finishes from the Cloud County men, with Lubo Zlatev recording a mark of 7.00 meters (22 ft. – 11.75 in.) in the long jump for a seventh-place finish while Emmanuel Wanga would place eighth in the 400 meters with a time of 49.18 seconds.
High finishes would also come at the Bethel Invitational with the CCCC women seeing five of their seven total performances lead to top-eight finishes while the T-Bird men would match the women by having five top-eight finishes across five events. For the women, Emmy Punches would record the best finish by the Cloud County women at the meet by taking third place in the javelin after a throw of 31.12 meters (102 ft. – 1 in.) while Hailey Sharp earned a seventh-place finish in the event (28.61 meters, 93 ft. – 10 in.). The Hammer throw would also see a top-five finish come from a CCCC student-athlete with Mallory Callihan taking fourth after recording a throw of 42.18 meters (138 ft. – 5 in.) before seeing Sharp (800 meters, 2:51.47) and Mariem Soltani (high jump, 1.40 meters, 4 ft. – 7 in.) each take seventh later on in the day.
In the men's competition at Bethel, the T-Birds would be led by a pair of top-five finishes from Quinn Bertrand in both hurdle races after a third-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles (1:00.93) that would be followed by a time of 17.77 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles. Sophomore Davis Mick also managed to earn a top-five finish on the day by recording a throw of 46.24 meters (151 ft. – 8 in.) in the hammer throw before going on to take sixth in the javelin (41.22 meters, 135 ft. – 3 in.) to edge out teammate Brandon Hutchinson (39.33 meters, 129 ft. – 0 in.) who would take seventh.
What's Next?
A chance to compete close to home next week comes on Friday, April 21st when Cloud County is scheduled to send a limited number of athletes to the Kansas Wesleyan University distance carnival that will be held on the KWU campus in Salina. CCCC will continue action the next day on Saturday, April 22nd when they host their lone home meet of the year with the Thunderbird Classic beginning at 12 PM both on the Cloud County Community College campus and at Harold M. Clark Stadium.