MARYVILLE, MO. – Missouri Baptist University men's and women's indoor track teams recorded a handful of strong finishes at the Heart of America Athletic Conference Indoor Championships, highlighted by several podium performances that earned All-Conference honors. In contrast, the Spartans finished seventh in the men's team standings and 10th on the women's side.
Missouri Baptist produced a few All-Conference performances, with the top three finishers in each event, and Spartans reached the podium in select races and field events to lead the team's scoring efforts.
James Kelly finished in first place in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.69. In the men's one mile, David Fletcher finished in third place with 4:19:00 for his time. Brandin Dodd finished in third place for the men's high jump, jumping 1.89 meters. Lastly, for the men's, Brett Drye finished at 7.17 meters for the men's high jump, placing him in third.
For the women, Carly Roussin placed third in the pentathlon long jump, jumping 4.99 meters.
The Spartans battled through two days of competition against a deep conference field, stacking points in distance events, sprints, and select field competitions to finish with 49 team points on the men's side.
On the women's side, Missouri Baptist totaled 23 points in the team standings, with several athletes posting personal-best marks and advancing to finals despite narrowly missing All-Conference placements.
The Spartans continued to turn in several strong finishes, highlighted by Grant Patten's third place showing in the 3,000 meters in 8:43.07 and a fifth-place finish in the mile at 4:22.40. Jordan Walker-Wright added a pair of top-five marks with a fourth-place throw of 15.48 meters in the shot put and a fifth-place distance of 15.83 meters in the weight throw, while Alex Shields placed fifth in the 800 meters in 1:56.65 and helped the Spartans' 4x800 relay team of Schneider, Clairborne, Etheridge, and Shields to a sixth-place finish in 7:59.12. Kaileb Rhen finished seventh in the shot put (14.77m), and Steven Aguilar took eighth in the 5,000 meters in 15:16.30.
On the women's side, Whorton, Bryant, Mueller, and Rockett finished third in the 4x800 relay with a time of 9:58.15, while Hernandez, Mueller, Bryant, and Collins placed fourth in the distance medley relay in 13:17.75. Adrienne Rockette recorded a fifth-place finish in the 1,000 meters in 3:04.90, and Carly Roussin placed fifth in the pentathlon, while Cortes, Mueller, Bryant, and Rockett took sixth in the 4x400 relay in 4:14.08. Emma Lawson rounded out the Spartans' top finishers with an eighth-place mark of 14.28 meters in the weight throw.
Overall, Missouri Baptist showed depth across the roster and continued to build momentum heading toward the outdoor season.
