Cloud County Women's Track Team Records Three Event Wins at 2023 KT Woodman Classic
Led by a school-record performance from sophomore Lucy Ndungu and event wins from Vimbayi Maisvorewa in the 400 meters and Miracle Thompson in the 100-meter hurdles, the Cloud County Community College women's track and field team would put together another strong weekend of performances at the 2023 KT Woodman Classic held inside Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas.
With 40 total teams in attendance over the course of the two-day meet, no team scores would be recorded with teams representing NCAA Division I, II, III, the NAIA, and NJCAA at the meet.
Friday Recap:
With things beginning in the late afternoon on Friday, Cloud County would have four total top-eight finishes on day one with Ndungu leading the way in the final event of the night for the T-Birds by taking part in a 57-runner field in the 5,000 meters while running her way to a winning time of 17:27.53. The time would be over 14 seconds faster than the previous school-record time of 17:41.75 that was run by Jolene Mick during the 2005 outdoor season while serving as just the second time run by an NJCAA athlete this season under the 17:30 mark to rank second on the NJCAA Division I performance list.
Cloud County would also get a fifth-place finish from Passion Crews in the 800 meters following a time of 2:18.04 while seeing Melody Ochana place eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a personal-best and national qualifying time of 11:36.60 which currently ranks third among NJCAA athletes during the 2023 outdoor season. In field events, CCCC's lone top-eight finish would come from sophomore Jessi Brummett in the javelin as the Manhattan, Kansas native would improve upon her mark from last week to record a throw of 40.53 meters (133 ft. – 0 in.) for an eighth-place finish while ranking third in the NJCAA.
Saturday Recap:
Wasting no time to put up some strong marks on day two, Cloud County would see field events lead to four top-eight finishes highlighted by a runner-up finish from Shackala Henry in the high jump by clearing 1.69 meters (5 ft. – 6.5 in.) for her best outdoor season mark to date. A pair of top-eight finishes would come in the pole vault for the T-Birds with Mia Manley (3.50 meters, 11 ft. – 5.75 in.) and Jasmine Sakaguchi (3.35 meters, 11 ft. – 0 in.) placing in fifth and seventh place, respectively to finish as the top athletes from the NJCAA in the event. The discus would also provide a top-five finish and national qualifying performance for Cloud County with Tamara Thompson recording a throw of 45.63 meters (149 ft. – 8 in.) to trail only four throwers from the University of Missouri in the event while earning a spot into the 2023 NJCAA National Championship meet.
Track events would provide another three top-eight finishes on Saturday with two of the three coming in event-winning times as both Maisvorewa and Thompson would beat out 40-plus runner fields in their respective events to post season-best outdoor times. In the 400 meters, Maisvorewa would run a time of 53.66 seconds to be just .13 seconds off her indoor time of 53.50 seconds that was run at the 2023 NJCAA Indoor Championships while Thompson would run a time of 13.50 seconds to win the event while holding the second-fastest time in the NJCAA this season. Thompson would go on to take eighth in the 200 meters with a time of 24.89 seconds while Crews would place 10th in the 800 meters with a time of 2:20.28 for her second top-10 finish in the event in as many days.
What's Next?
Cloud County will split their squad for the first time in the 2023 outdoor season in the coming week with athletes competing in the University of Kansas Relays and Bethel College Invitational. Action in Lawrence at the KU Relays is set to begin on Thursday, April 13th, and run through Saturday, April 15th while the Bethel College Invitational will take place on Saturday the 15th in North Newton, Kansas.