WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Women's Indoor Track & Field Falcons continued their mastery of the KCAC with their sixth straight conference title this past weekend at Wichita State University. The Men's Falcons also put together another solid result with their straight runner-up finish.

The Women's Falcons put up 213 points to outdistance the University of Saint Mary's 147.  

"This weekend was a true testament to how our team is able to step up big in the face of adversity," first-year Friends head coach Henry Brun said. "Going into the indoor championships, we put together a roadmap to a conference title for both programs. The one thing I harped on heavily to our group is that this weekend will not be perfect and that everyone has a very specific role in contributing to the overall success of the team. At the end of day one, both programs were in a position they were unfamiliar with: the women were only leading the meet by two points and the men were leading the meet by 14 points. Our women knew we had to compete confidently in day two in order to increase our lead and secure our sixth straight indoor team title."

Fueling the Falcons' performance was senior Lauren Doll (SR/Leon, Kan.), who captured KCAC Athlete of the Meet honors for the second straight season.

Doll put together another scintillating performance in dominating the meet, winning conference championships in the Long Jump (5.66m), Triple Jump (11.75m) and 60 Hurdles (9.26) while helping the Falcons win the KCAC title in the 4 X 400 relay (4:05.77). She was also the conference runner-up in the High Jump (1.55m).

A native of Leon, Kan., Doll finished with 40.5 total points for the meet in powering the Falcons to the conference title.

The Falcons also made their presence felt in the 600 meter run and 1,000 meter run, winning conference titles and sweeping the top three spots in both events.  Aileen Gurrola (JR/Garden City, Kan.) (1:37.20), Miranda Tenove (SR/Gardner, Kan.) (1:37.51) and Aubry Donley (FR/Lincoln, Kan. ) (1:37.97) were the top three finishers in the 600 meters, with Donley, (3:00.11), Tenove (3:00.14) and Gurrola (3:03.20) making up the top three in the 1,000 meters. This dynamic trio also teamed with Doll in helping the Falcons win the conference championship in the 4 X 400 Relay.

Kortney Schutt (SR/Haysville, Kan.) won a conference title in the Weight Throw (17.12m) and finished second in the Shot Put (13.27m).  Schutt led three Falcons in the top five in the Shot Put, with Lauren Hills (JR/Maize, Kan.) (12.17m) and Cassandra Loesch (JR/Lyons, Kan.) (11.70m) finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

In the Triple Jump, Elaina Henderson (JR/San Antonio, Texas) (11.15m) came in right behind Doll as the runner-up while finishing third in the 60 Hurdles (9.50m). Alexus Edwards (SO/Sterling, Kan.) (9.70m) also finished fifth in the 60 Hurdles to give the Falcons three of the top five finishers in the event.

Nicole Ballard recorded a runner-up finish in the 3,000 meter run (11:09.60), while Caroline Giles (FR/Minneapolis, Kan.) produced third-place showings in both the 800 meter run (2:25.66) and 1 Mile Run (5:30.40).

The Falcons came in as the runner-up in the 4 X 800 relay (Giles, Payton Reaves (SR/Wichita, Kan.), Kayla Allen (JR/Lewiston, Maine), Kara Zahariades (JR/Phoenix, Arizona)) with a time of 10:08.49.  In the Distance Medley Relay, Reaves, Allen and Zahariades teamed with Kaitlynn Massey (FR/Granby, Mo. ) to finish fourth (13:44.43).  

"As day two began, one event at a time, the women poured on the points with amazing efforts by our top jumpers, throwers, hurdlers and middle/long distance runners," Brun said.

The Men's Falcons entered the second day on top but finished in second place with 156 points, falling short of Saint Mary's 182.50 total. The 156 points is the most for the Falcons since the 2016 season.

"For our men, this is the first time in a number of years in which we had a lead during the conference meet so the goal was to maintain and increase upon it," Brun said. "We also had a couple injuries to our top sprinters in day one, which had them both unable to compete the rest of the meet. We knew we needed to step up in their absence."

Chiante Stewart (SO/Calhan, Co.), the Falcons' top scorer at the meet, won the conference title in the Triple Jump (14.11m) while finishing third in both the High Jump (1.86m) and Long Jump (6.76m).

The Falcons paced the field in the Long Jump, as Cadin Gustafson (JR/Derby, Kan.) won the event title (6.89m), followed by Noah Myers (JR/Pratt, Kan.) (second, 6.82m), Stewart and Devlin Wolke (FR/Maize, Kan.) (fourth, 6.63m).

Friends also received conference championship efforts from Avery Stuever (SO/Wichita, Kan.) (1:57.90) in the 800 meter run and Brayden Wells (SO/Wichita, Kan. ) in the Weight Throw (17.52m).

The Falcons also got top five performances from Josiah Bolton (FR/Ellsworth, Kan. ) (1,000 meter run, third 2:38.22), Isaac Campbell (SO/Sedan, Kan.) (Shot Put, third, 15.33m & Weight Throw, third, 15.64m), Gabe Kuhn (JR/Andale, Kan.) (600 Meter Run, fourth, 1:23.46), Logan White (SR/Wichita, Kan.) (800 Meter Run, fifth, 2:00.68 & 1 Mile Run, fifth, 4:30.07), Brandon Rose (FR/Goddard, Kan. ) (Pole Vault, fifth, 3.75m) and Bryce Stegman (JR/Pratt, Kan.) (Triple Jump, fifth, 12.39m).

In the relays, the Falcons finished as the runner-up (8:00.78) in the 4 X 800 relay behind the team of Kuhn, Stuever, White and Logan Anglemyer (FR/Wichita, Kan. ). The Falcons were fourth (3:29.07) in the 4 X 400 relay featuring Casey Mosley (SO/Garland, Texas), Kuhn, Stuever and Gustafson, while coming in third in the Distance Medley Relay (10:52.26, Anglemyer, Logan Mount (FR/Clearwater, Kan. ), Alex Viscarra (SR/Wichita, Kan.), Kade Gerlach (JR/Mulvane, Kan. )).

"For our men, we started to see what we were really made of, having many of our freshmen and underclassmen put up lifetime best performances to keep pace with St. Mary and cling to a narrow lead," Brun said.

The NAIA Indoor Championships are next for the Falcons, set for Mar. 5-7 in Brookings, S.D.

"I couldn't be more proud of how our teams fought this weekend," Brun said. "The women showed that they are a force in this conference, regardless of the obstacles set in their way. The men, who held the lead up until the second to last event, proved that they will not go down easily and that we are so close to being atop the KCAC."