GRINNELL, IOWA – The Beloit College Buccaneers track and field teams concluded competition in the Midwest Conference (MWC) Indoor Championships this afternoon. Highlighted by two historic school-record performances and a conference title in the pole vault, the Buccaneers solidified their standing as a rising power in the conference.
The Buccaneer men finished 5th overall with 71 points, fueled by a weekend of high-velocity performances.
The headline of the meet belonged to the Men's Sprint Medley Relay team. On Friday, the quartet of Josh Yearby (Hollywood, FL), Nate Otis (Shoreview, Minn.), Ayouba Sumoaro (Las Vegas, NV), and Kembre Daniel (Chicago, Ill.) scorched the track to a time of 3:34.00, finishing 2nd overall and officially breaking a 27-year old Beloit College record.
Distance standout Dylan Malmgren (Loves Park, Ill.) etched his name further into the record books on Friday night as well. In the 5000m run, Malmgren clocked a blistering 15:17.44 to take 4th place, setting a new school record in the process. He also contributed points in the 3000m, finishing 8th with a time of 8:45.16.
In the sprints, Yearby proved to be one of the fastest men in the MWC. After qualifying with the fastest preliminary time of 6.77, he took silver in the 60m Dash finals with a time of 6.79. Yearby also placed 4th in the 200m (22.30).
The field events saw a massive performance from Ian Phillips (Machesney Park, Ill.), who earned a 2nd-place finish in the Shot Put with a toss of 15.25m. On the jump runway, John Deary II (Avondale, LA) secured a silver medal in the Long Jump with a leap of 6.79m, while Izzy Zewdie (Las Vegas, Nev.) took 6th in the Triple Jump (12.68m).
The Beloit women finished 7th in the team standings with 36.5 points, led by a dominant performance in the vertical jumps.
Naomee Casey (Broken Arrow, Okla) stood atop the podium as the Midwest Conference Champion in the Pole Vault, clearing 3.05m to take the gold. Teammate Haley Carlin (Sarasota, Fla.) joined her on the podium, taking 3rd place with a height of 2.75m.
On the track, freshman standout Syniyah Quenga (Urbana, IL) made an immediate impact. Quenga finished 4th in the 200m Dash with a time of 26.40 and 7th in the 60m Dash (8.22).
The Buccaneer relay teams showed great depth, with the 4x200 Relay team (Allie Roberts, Cole Miller (Salem, Ore.), Jaslyn Gama (Beloit, Wis.), and Quenga) placing 4th with a time of 1:49.37. The Distance Medley Relay (DMR) team of Simone de Montigny (Neenah, Wis.), Miller, Selin Tufte (Clarkdale, Ariz.), and Addie Bogda (Collierville, TN) fought for a 5th-place finish, clocking in at 13:41.17.
A small contingent of Buccaneers will head to the Firebird Finale on Friday, March 6th as a last chance qualifier for the NCAA DIII Indoor Track and Field Championships.
