Women's Pole Vault podium sweep highlights Heart Outdoor Championships for Pride track and field

FAYETTE, Mo. - The meet of the 2024-25 season for the entirety of the Clarke University track and field team, the Pride came away with a women's sixth place finish and a seventh place finish for the men at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships this Friday and Saturday in Fayette, Mo.

Full meet results can be found at the following link: https://liveresults.trxctiming.com/meets/Heart_Of_America_Outdoor_Championships_2025

It was another banner day for head coach Bradley Johnson's women's pole vault group as Grace Squires earned her fifth overall pole vault conference championship, her second-straight sweep to be the indoor and outdoor champion, and her third-straight outdoor Heart Championship in the pole vault in her three seasons in navy and gold.

The White Bear Lake, Minn. native cleared an NAIA B Standard height of 3.65 meters to clear teammates Evelyn Lee and Emma Grant's second and third place marks of 3.20 meters as Lee took home the silver over Grant's bronze by clearing the height one attempt sooner than Grant.

Along with the pole vault trio, the Pride had seven other individuals reach the podium, including Annemarie Koerner's double podium performance in the long jump and high jump as she captured a pair of bronze medals with a 5.73-meter long jump to break a school record then a 1.56-meter high jump.

Amani Drayton, Mofiyinfoluwa Alade, and Gavayne Smith all medaled on the men's side as Drayton and Alade earned runner-up placements first in the long jump for Drayton with his 6.90-meter mark then Alade hit the podium in the high jump with a 1.96-meter clearance. Smith was able to break the school record in the 100-meter dash to place in third with a 10.55-second time in the finals after running 10.70 to qualify in the semis.

The women's podium finishers were rounded out by NAIA qualifier Isabelle Matthews as she earned third place in the javelin with a 39.38-meter throw, Jaycie Franco earned a bronze medal in the 3000-meter steeplechase, then Blanca Siemes earned third place in the heptathlon with 3846 points.

Squires and Koerner will head to the NAIA Outdoor National Championship after both participated at Indoor Nationals in March with Matthews and Brei Christoffer joining the duo for their first appearances at an NAIA Championship in their CU careers.

Clarke track and field will have select athletes compete in a last chance meet in an effort to join those four ladies at the NAIA Championship with a date and location yet to be determined.

The NAIA Championship is scheduled for May 21-23 in Marion, Ind. hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University with Koerner's heptathlon competition taking part over the first two days, the pole vault and javelin to take place on May 21, and the 100-meter hurdles prelims taking place on May 22.