BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Pittsburg State men’s indoor track & field team witnessed a pair of individual event national championships Friday and the Gorillas exited Day 2 action of the 2021 NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships in second place.
The Gorillas scored 23 points Friday to shoot into second place in the team standings behind only day two leader Grand Valley State University. The Lakers head to Saturday’s final day action with 29 points.
Junior Trey Mooney started the day with a national championship performance in the heptathlon. The Lamar, Mo., native capped off the final three disciplines in the multi events in strong form and compiled a personal best and new school record 5,567 points. Redshirt freshman Hunter Jones also garnered All-America honors in the heptathlon with his sixth-place finish. Jones also earned a PR and posted the fifth best mark in school history with 5,115 points.
The distance medley relay of Connar Southard, Graham Hudelson, Matt Wilson and Mason Strader also claimed a dramatic national championship by edging second place GVSU by .01 second. Strader broke the finish line in 9:46.68 to edge the Lakers’ Caleb Futter by a fraction of a second. The DMR also broke its own two-week-old school record time in the race.
In other action men’s Friday, Strader qualified to the finals of the mile run with his semifinal time of 4:06.95. Junior Konner Swenson also placed 10th overall in the shot put with a best mark of 55-8.25.
In the women’s action, senior Asia Anderson finished ninth in the women’s long jump (18-11.75). Senior Haven Lander earned All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the pole vault. Lander and five others all cleared 13-3.5, but the Republic, Mo., native finished seventh based upon misses.
Juniors London Futch and Christine Williams both qualified to sprint finals Friday. Futch posted the second-fastest time in the 400 meters (55.57), while Williams qualified seventh in the 200 meters (24.76).
The Pitt State women exited day two action in a tie for ninth place in the team standings with 10 points. GVSU leads the women’s field with 34 points.
