HU Kicks Off Indoor Season At Mastodon Opener

By Press release submission

Dec 7, 2022

The HU track & field program kicked off its indoor season at the Mastodon Opener Saturday at Purdue Fort Wayne's Hilliard Gates Center.

"This was a great meet to shake the rust off and get some nerves out," said Coach Austin Roark. "The team has been training hard for months now, so it was nice to finally see where we are and what we need to work on. A lot of our athletes were competing in secondary events, and we only brought about half of the full group for this meet."

On the women's side, Huntington claimed four of the top five spots in the mile behind Abby Mays' first place finish in 5:19.25. Deann Fry was next for Roark's crew in 6:03.89 for third place while Shaylynn Reyes (6:32.77) and Evelyn Sigler (7:03.40) finished fourth and fifth respectively.

In her debut as a Forester, Erica Xayarath made her way into the Huntington record books with her leap of 5.46 meters in long jump. It proved the second best mark in program history, the fourth best at the meet.

Aanyah Wright's tenth-place toss of 10.58 meters in shot put was also a program highlight as the eighth best in HU history. The junior thrower also competed in weight throw where she took fourth with a mark of 14.25 meters.

Other top-ten finishes for Huntington included Morgann Hart in the 800 meters (2nd, 3:15.10), Brielle Fehlmann in the 400 meters (6th, 1:09.18), Sydni Ausberry in the 60 meters (6th, 8.01) and Hannah Johnson in the 60 meters (10th, 8.25).

The Forester men dominated the mile. Austin Liepe crossed the line first in 4:25.08. Kent Yoder came in next in 4:26.04. Matthew Hyter posted a 4:27.90 good for fourth while Tyler Loucks rounded out the top ten with a time of 5:02.71.

HU was also well represented in the 400 meters. Grady Martin took third in 53.44, Blake Miller finished fourth in 54.12 and Keegan Angel claimed eighth in 57.11.

Zach Collins' second-place time of 7.04 in the 60 meters is the second fastest time in program history. Chandler Minnich also cracked into the HU record books at the 8th spot in pole vault with his mark of 4.20 meters which earned him third place at the meet.

"We had a lot of PRs across the board for both men and women," noted Roark. "I was impressed with the mile group of athletes who put down some good times and PRs in a race coming off the cross country season. Chandler had a great meet and is showing consistency in the pole vault, as well as Aanyah in the women's weight throw.

"This was a great test for us; we're looking forward to adding some more performances next weekend as we see some stiffer competition before Christmas break. I expect some school records and national standards at our next meet."

Next up for the Foresters is the Strive for Greatness Invitational hosted by Indiana Tech on Saturday.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 17 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 125 NAIA All-America honors and 449 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.