The Mount Vernon Nazarene track and field team continued its indoor season on Friday at the Tiffin Alumni Open, hosted by Tiffin University. The women set three school records and the men’s team had a solid day as it saw three NAIA standards set.
The women’s 4x400 meter relay of Ashley Burgess, Lyssi Snouffer, Lily Scarberry and Grace Chesser placed first and set a school record with a time of 4:15.13. Snouffer placed third and broke her own school record in the high jump with a jump of 1.57m. Brooke Holloway placed third in pole vault with a vault of 3.38m. Burgess placed ninth in the 400m and broke her own school record with a time of 1:04.02.
Mount Vernon Nazarene University (MVNU) track coach Elias Gallion was pleased with the team’s efforts.
“Going into this meet we knew that the competition would be stiff, but this was an awesome opportunity to test where we were before heading into Christmas break. Having back-to-back meets in December is a new experience for this team, but it gave us a rare opportunity to have very specific outcomes for some of our athletes,” Gallion said.
MVNU's women's squad built off a strong opener last week, "to have another balanced performance," the coach said.
“Makayla Roberts has started to really come into her own in weight throw and this is fun to behold. She is taking steps daily and this meet proved again that she is ready to provide impact here. In the vertical jumps, Lyssi Snouffer has been a special addition to his team,” Gallion said. “On the running side, we had great balance and showed we are ready to get after it come January. Maddie Kitchen came in with a clear goal in the 200 and she performed to perfection. Ashley Burgess opened us up strong in the 4x4 before handing over to Lyssi, who ran a strong leg for us. Lily Scarberry then stepped up in a big way and Grace Chesser finished well by keeping the race out of reach of the other teams.”
On the men’s side, Erich Rhodeback placed first in the 60m hurdles with a blazing time of 8.11 seconds. The time surpassed the NAIA “A” Standard and was also a new school record.
The men’s 4x400 meter relay placed first and set a school record with a time of 3:21.60. The relay team of Marcus Whaley, Liam Near, Jaden Haldeman and Rhodeback was able to hit the NAIA “B” standard.
Kyler Dickey hit the NAIA “B” Standard with a throw of 15.42 in the shot put. Dickey placed fourth overall in the event. Isaac Ramseyer placed third in the 800m with a time of 2:01.96. Alex Jenney placed fifth with a time of 2:02.61. Micah Tuggle placed 11th in the weight throw with a toss of 15.91m. The throw broke his own school record in the event. Bryce Wiles set a new school record in the 60m with a time of 6.93 seconds.
“For our men's team, our throwers got us started off on the right foot,” said Coach Gallion. “Led by senior Kyler Dickey, who is a three-time indoor national qualifier in shot put, these gentlemen showed they are ready for a strong year. Kyler took care of his standard early and will build well off of that showing. It was really nice to see Zach Jenney get back on track in shot with a stout outing and seasonal PR. Then to cap everything off, Micah Tuggle bested his own school record in weight throw and looks to give us a real punch from that event. Moving to the running events, Erich Rhodeback has been showing he is ready for a great performance, and he solidified that tonight. Running 8.11 this early in the 60(m) hurdles is impressive but he still has a lot of room for growth, which is an exciting prospect.”
