DES MOINES, Iowa- On day two of the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, four Shockers won individual titles, and a school record fell. Both the Shocker men and women lead the conference meet after day two.
Tanya Friesen began day two of the meet by jumping 20-0 ¼ to score a 880 points in the heptathlon long jump. Friesen followed that performance with a 137-0 javelin throw.
In the final event of the heptathlon, the 800m, Friesen held off the competition to win her second consecutive MVC Outdoor Heptathlon Championship. The senior also became the first Shocker to sweep both multi championships in the same season since Koya Webb in 2004.
Freshman, Nikki Larch-Miller (5,000) posted the sixth best heptathlon score in WSU history. Larch- Miller ran a personal best of 2:27.84 in the 800m run. Jaclyn Abrahamian (4,642) and Gavyn Yetter (4,600) both delivered scoring efforts for the Shockers with seventh and eight place finishes.
In the men's decathlon, Austin Bahner posted a new personal best of 15.35 in the 110m hurdles. Mac Griffith also ran a PR of 15.27.
Bahner topped all other multis with a throw of 148-3 in the discus. He held a 190 point lead after seven events. Griffith set another personal best with his throw of 142-3.
In the final event of the decathlon, the 1,500m run, Justin Hickey set a new personal best of 4:25.87. Hickey topped all other multis in the event.
Bahner concluded his decathlon with a new Shocker record of 7,599 points. The junior earned second place in 10-event contest with this score.
Griffith posted a new PR of 7,109. The senior also set personal bests in four events. Tobias Boese (6,949) and Hickey (6,874) finished fourth and fifth respectively.
The Shocker men swept the medal spots in the men's high jump. Garrett Lynch won his first ever MVC Championship. Zach Budda took second and Kerry Graber placed third. All three jumpers cleared 6-8. Lynch had the least number of attempts at the lower bars.
However, confusion with the jumping order resulted in controversy. A Drake jumper was forced to move back in thr rotation. Despite missing on three jumps at 6-8, this athlete was allowed another opporunity to jump.
After a four hour rest period and additional warm ups, Drake's Ryan Cook rentered the competition and cleared 6-9 1/2 to win the event. Lynch took second with Budda and Graber finishing third and fourth respectively.
On the women's side, freshman, Ashley Petersen won her first MVC High Jump Championship. Petersen cleared 5-9 ¼ to claim victory.
Friesen returned to claim second place in the long jump with a 19-9 ¾ leap. She also took third in the women's high jump by clearing 5-8 to end her grueling day. Thus far, Friesen has contributed 30 points to the Shockers' team point total
In the final race of the night, Tomas Cotter won the MVC 3,000m Steeplechase Championship for the second consecutive season. Cotter crossed the finish line with a time of 8:56 to become a three-time MVC Champion.
The Shocker women lead second place Indiana State by 21.5 points. On the men's side the Shockers hold a 10-point advantage over Southern Illinois.
Wichita State Track & Field will try to clinch MVC Championships on both the men's and women's sides on Sunday, the final day of the meet. Field events begin at 12 p.m. with running events starting at 12:55 p.m.
Click here for live results of the Missouri Valley Conference Championships. Watch the below video to see Ashley Petersen's winning jump.
-Wichita State-