The Simpson College track and field team put up strong performances on Friday, April 24, at the Kip Janvrin Open. Many athletes contributed to the team’s performance throughout the meet. However, a few stood out.
Sophomore Johnny Amina talked about the team’s motivations for this season and highlighted the importance of conference competitions.
“Our biggest motivator as a whole team this year was the strive to accomplish a better team score in our conference competition,” Amina said.
He cleared 1.90 meters in the high jump at the meet, helping his team push towards the win.
Though Amina was not the only one who performed well, Sophomore James Johnson set the second-fastest time in school history in the 1500-meter race, running a 3:49, and became the second person in school history to complete it in under three minutes and fifty seconds. This time puts Johnson at seventeenth all-time in NCAA Division III.
Senior Kendrick Achabe also took home a win in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.57, winning in a field of forty four total runners.
Sophomore Jaret Petersen spoke on how pleased he was with the team’s overall performance at this year’s meet.
“We work hard every single day, so it’s super cool to see that show up in meets,” Peterson said. “I think as a team, overall we can keep getting even better while still looking towards conference.”
On the women’s side of the meet, the Storm put up eight new top 10 times in various events.
The Storm had a solid performance in the 200-meter dash, where they set three new top 10 marks. Emma Cooper led the way with a new personal record of 25.19, moving into the third-best time in school history, while her teammate Chloe Wierson ran a 25.67 to set the sixth-best time in school history.
Sophomore Jenna Thornburg, who moved into the eighth-best time in school history with her 25.96 run in the 200-meter dash. She also made the seventh-best time in school history with her 12.46 run in the 100-meter dash. Cooper also took home first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.27.
Not only did Simpson flourish in many running events at the invitational, the fielding events were a success for the team as well.
Sophomore Olivia Merrill got third place in the shot put with a throw of 13.25 meters, and the fifth-best throw in school history. She was followed by first-year Ava Tichy, who moved up to fourth in school history in the hammer with a throw of 43.08 meters.
With the season and year coming to an end, both the men’s and women’s teams will now look ahead to May 1, where they will travel to Pella and compete in a two-day meet and attempt to bring home some hardware at the American Rivers Conference meet.
