It was a successful weekend for the Butler track & field teams as they competed well at the KJCCC & Region VI Championships in Pittsburg with a couple of individual awards to add to it.
"I think overall the meet went really well," said head coach Greg Franklin. "Both the men & women performed great and had some personal best times set along the way." We need to step things up to be prepared for Nationals.
The Butler men had a big weekend finishing 2nd in Region VI while the women took 6th place. Head coach Greg Franklin was named men's Coach of the Year while Jerod Elcock and Kiara Brown were named Track Athlete of the Meet on the men's & women's side.
Jerod Elcock was named Track Athlete of the meet after he finished first place in the 60 meter dash clocking a 6.64, just .02 off the Region record, and runner-up in the 400 meter with a time of 47.96.
Devoy Pinnock and David Niang both ran personal bests in the men's 60 meter hurdles finishing first and second with times of 8.05 and 8.06. Caleb Jackson took second in the men's 60 meter dash behind Elcock running a 6.70 while Morgan Jamison came in 8th with a time of 6.92.
"This men's 60m hurdle race really surprised me at this meet," commented Franklin. "We ended up coming in first and second and we were competing against some top hurdlers in the country so I am really happy for Devoy and David."
Joe Williams took second in the men's 200 meter dash running a 21.25 with teammate Morgan Jamison coming in 6th with a time of 21.55.
The men's 4x400 meter relay team of Caleb Jackson, Joe Williams, Nazzio John and Cameron Leiba brought home the silver which was the race that propelled the Grizzlies into the second place Region finish.
Butler's 4x800 meter relay team of Valeur Muyoboke, Jared Sylvester, Sean Fisher and Mario Tullis also posted a second place finish with a time of 7:56.42, just a second behind Fort Scott.
On the women's side, Kiara Brown led the way for Butler winning the 60 meter dash running a 7.57 along with winning the 200 meter clocking a time of 24.29. She came in second place in the 400 meter running a personal best time of 55.28.
Shawnakay Peart made the finals in the 60 and finished 8th with a time of 7.80 and also made the 200 meter finals and ran a 24.98 to finish fifth.
Other Region VI top five finishers were:
Third Place- Victor Jumo in the 3000 meter with a time of 8:22.85
Fourth place- Victor Jumo in the 1 mile with a time of 4:19.83
Fourth Place- Ann Dangha in the 400 meter with a time of 57.06
Fifth Place- Ann Dangha in the 600 meter with a time of 1:40.99
REGION VI COMPILED RESULTS
KJCCC EAST RESULTS
The Grizzlies didn't have a fully loaded squad competing at Regionals but made the most of who they brought.
"I am most proud of going into this Regional meet with only seven women and competing really well," added Franklin. "They stepped it up a lot and ran multiple events, especially Kiara, Ann and Shawnakay. The men did an exceptional job and finished in second place overall which is something we have not been able to accomplish these past few years."
The Grizzlies will train the next two weeks in preparation for the NJCAA Indoor National Championships coming up March 4-5 in Pittsburg, KS at the Robert W. Plaster Center.
Coach Franklin says the goal over the next two weeks is to train hard and stay healthy. We had a good outing at regionals but will need to step it up in two weeks at the National meet.
