Pride track and field gets back to work in 2024 at Moco Mercer Challenge

DUBUQUE, Iowa - Following a cancelation of originally schedule return to action since the turn of the calendar, the Clarke University track and field teams stayed in town to compete in the Moco Mercer Challenge hosted by University of Dubuque on Saturday.

Both men's and women's squads for the Pride earned third place team finishes with the women scoring 80 points and the men not far behind with 74 points as both teams saw their jumps athletes led all disciplines in team points scored.

Those jumpers for the women included eight different instances of point scoring led by a second place from Grace Squires in the pole vault with a high clearance of 3.05 meters and Kayley Crain in the triple jump with a best jump of 9.99 meters while Isabelle Matthews (long jump/high jump), Anyah Ranson (high jump), Sydney Norman (high jump), Evelyn Lee (pole vault), and Autumn McLaughlin (pole vault) all scored for CU.

On the men's side in the jumps, Tyler Kell and Daniel Adams both cleared 1.89 meters as Kell took less attempts to tie for first with Adams earning six more points for CU in third while Brody Deitering (4.11m) and James Vandun (3.81m) both scored in the pole vault, and Brandon Martin scored in the long jump with a 6.16-meter best jump.

Adams and Vandun also scored for the Pride in the 60-meter hurdles with Adams clocking in at 8.91 seconds, just one hundreth of a second ahead of Vandun's 8.92 seconds as Harm van den Berkmortel also scored for Clarke with a sixth place 9.27 time.

Ranson was another multi-time scorer in the meet as well earning a third place in the women's 60-meter hurdles at 10.29 behind teammate Keara Arnold's 9.96 as Kaiya Gonzalez also scored with a 10.55 in fifth place.

More top finishes on the track included Rory Bickler's second place in the mile with a 5:25.77, Gavayne Smith's third place in the 60-meter dash with a 6.86, Cord Nietert and Bryce Kondos finishing less than a second apart in the 600 meters for third and fourth, and CU's top men's 4x400-meter relay team of Josh Musonda, Jake Etherington, Lucas van Loon, and Deitering finishing in second with a 3:33.95.

For full results click here: https://milesplit.live/meets/589151/events

Clarke track and field will have a busy week coming up with the multi athletes competing on Jan. 25-26 at Central College and the rest of the team will head back to Davenport, Iowa for the Fighting Bee Invite hosted by St. Ambrose University on Jan. 27.