PITTSBURG, Kan. - The Butler women's track and field team took Jayhawk West runner-up honors on Saturday at the Region VI Indoor Championships, held at Pittsburg State University's Robert W. Plaster Center.
The Grizzlies finished third in the region standings behind Jayhawk West champ Barton and East champ Coffeyville. Barton scored 177 points to win the meet, while Coffeyville had 104. Butler edged out Cowley by two points for third place with 94.5 points.
In West scoring, Barton had 219 points while beating out the Grizzlies by 35 points.
"We were seeded fifth as a team entering this meet," said Butler head coach Ryan Turner. "To jump up and take a trophy from teams who were ranked ahead of us shows how much drive and determination our women have."
Butler was highlighted by sophomore Valeriya Kostiuk, who successfully defended her Region VI indoor title in the high jump by clearing 5' 9". Kostiuk's top finish was one of six placings in field events, which surprised Turner.
"I didn't expect that," said Turner about the field placings. "Our female field event athletes really took the bull by the the horns this weekend. They've been working very hard and it was great seeing them have a breakthrough at the right time."
The Grizzlies also had three runner-up finishes, including the 4x800-meter and distance medley relay events. On Friday, the DMR team of Jeanna Baker, Davia Smith, Roshea Burrell and Jade Searles finished with a time of 12:40.62. Searles, Burrell, Conangela Senior and Baker then took second-place honors in Saturday's 4x800 relay (9:43.38).
Freshman Jayne Roberts also tied for second in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 10' 11-3/4". Sophomore teammate Madison McLaughin took sixth in the event with a top vault of 10'.
Butler added another top-three finish in the 4x400-meter relay, as the team of Javonda Peagler, Tashoy Blake, Davia Smith and Courtney Willis had a time of 3:56.62.
In the shot put event, Dejah Erskine and Julianna Horner placed third and fourth, respectively. Erskine had a top throw of 42' 6-1/2", while Horner's best was 41' 1/2". Horner also placed eighth in the weight throw, with a top mark of 43' 1-3/4".
Burrell finished third in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:09.75, while Baker took seventh place (3:14.33). Burrell also finished fifth in the 800-meter event (2:23.47), along with teammate Conangela Senior who placed seventh (2:25.07).
Along with placing in the 4x800 and DMR, Jade Searles placed in three individual events. Searles took sixth in the 1-mile run (5:30.94) and had two eighth-place finishes (800m, 2:26.69; 3,000m, 11:09.83).
Alexxis Milner and Jayne Roberts both placed in the 60-meter hurdles and the pentathlon events. Milner took fourth in the hurdles with a time of 8.83 seconds, while Roberts finished seventh (9.13).
In the pentathlon, Roberts and Milner finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Roberts scored 3,051 points, while Milner had 3,021. Milner was runner-up in the 60m hurdles (8.98 seconds) and took third in the 800m run (2:34.88), while Roberts' best event was the high jump (1.61m, 3rd).
Freshman sprinter Javonda Peagler placed in both the 60 and 200-meter dash events. In the 60, Peagler ran a time of 7.73 seconds, then finished eighth in the 200 at 25.86 seconds.
In the 400-meter dash, freshman Davia Smith (58.49) and Courtney Willis (58.68) finished seventh and eighth. Willis also took seventh in the long jump, with a top leap of 15' 3-1/4".
Butler will next be in action at the NJCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held on March 3-4 in Pittsburg.
