The Friends University Track and Field team started their 2014 Indoor Track Campaign on the campus of Wichita State University on January 17-18^th for the Herm Wilson Invitational. The meet hosted a wide variety of schools from NCAA Division 1, NJCAA, NAIA, and more. The Falcons recorded multiple season bests, a few top 5 finishes, and 1 NAIA National Qualifier in freshman Angie Vailas. Vailas posted another "B" Standard performance in the 60M Dash with a time of 7.81. That time gave her a runner-up finish in the meet and ranks her #1 in the KCAC and #13 in the nation this season.

The sprint team put together another solid performance very similar to their first meet of the year at Kansas University back in December. Angie Vailas hit the National "B" Standard in the 60M with a time of 7.81 and was also the 4^th place finisher in the 200 with a time of 26.74. Abby Simon (Freshman from Andale, Kan.) ran 8.06 in the 60m and was the 3^rd place finisher in the 200M with a time of 26.67. Two other freshman finished well in the 60M – Jamie Alexander (8.21) and Connor Reh (8.35). The best finisher for the Falcons in the 60 hurdles came from Madison Behny (9.47) on the women's side and Lewis Taylor on the Men's (8.62). Freshman transfer Jack Strickland also competed well in his first collegiate meet running 9.10 in the Hurdles. The Falcon men also ran very well in the open sprints with Dexter Davis running 7.11 in the 60M and 23.65 in the 200M. Not far behind Davis in the 200M were Dan Moran (23.90) and Lewis Taylor (23.93). In his first collegiate 400m, senior distance runner Brock Nooney ran a 53.02 in the 400M and was the highest placing falcon runner in the event.

The triple jump proved to be an exciting event for the Falcons yet again as sophomore Kaitlyn Keck jumped a personal best of 35'5" which is only 4 inches away from the National "B" Standard. The Beidron Twins also competed well in the Triple Jump with Dylan jumping 42'5" and Trevor just behind him with a 38'4". The day's best long jump for the men also came from Dylan Biedron (19'7") and from Abby Simon on the women's end (16'1"). To finish a solid day of field events junior throws specialist John Burba (Haysville, KS) hit big throw in the weight (45'8") followed closely by senior Emmanuel Aceves (44'1). Senior shot putter Ashley Lyons also put up a few good throws in her first meet of the season with a best of 35'10". On the men's side the Falcons were led by Nathan Thompson who recorded the KCAC's best throw of 42'3".

Mitch Heller led the way for the distance crew this weekend posting the KCAC's best mile in 4:31.13 and he was also the Falcons top finisher in the 3000M with a time of 9:39. Andrew Means (9:48) and Brooks Rummery (10:06) also completed the 3,000. The 800 got the ladies moving as Natasha Burley ran 2:35.81, and Ellie Newlin posted a season best in the 1,000 with a time of 3:26.81. Freshman Max Burley (Ponca City, OK) ran a 2:00.69 in the 800M which is good for 2^nd in the KCAC this season.

Head Women's Coach Cole Davis had these remarks on the meet. "I am very pleased with the results from this weekend at WSU. Our sprinters are really showing us that they are capable of competing at a very high level each and every week and that gives us confidence going into this 3 meet stretch leading into the indoor conference meet. We have a great group of quality student-athletes that are putting in the work each and every day. Angie had a tremendous performance in the 60M yet again, proving she will be a force to be reckoned with, not only in the KCAC which she is ranked 1^st by over .10 of a second, but also in the nation (she is currently ranked 13^th). These next two weekends will give us a great opportunity to see our rival school Southwestern as they will be sharing the track with us at KU and Missouri Southern. I know our kids are excited to see some of our KCAC competition in action."

Head Men's Coach, Damian Smithhisler, added these comments. "The Herm Wilson Invite was a great meet for our team to get started with. It was close to home, which allowed for many of our athletes' friends and families to attend. The competition was a nice mix of schools and talent, and we were very appreciative of WSU to allow us to compete in this meet. On the men's side, we currently have twenty-two individual marks that rank in the top five among KCAC competitors. Of those twenty-two, seven of them are currently top marks in the conference. Although the indoor competition season is relatively young, we're less than three weeks out from the conference meet. With a firm foundation, our focus continues to be preparing for the KCAC meet and picking up some national qualifiers along the way. We have a handful of men who are very close to punching their ticket to the national meet in Geneva, OH."

The Falcons next competition will be this Friday, January 24^th when a large part of the team will be attending the Jayhawk Classic on the campus of Kansas University in Lawrence.