Tops Close Indoor Regular Season with 19 Top-10 Finishes in Birmingham

Friday, February 12

Birmingham, Ala.

Western Kentucky University

Samford Invite #2

Tops Close Indoor Regular Season with 19 Top-10 Finishes in Birmingham

2/12/2021 7:09:00 PM | Track & Field

BIRMINGHAM – WKU Track & Field finished its indoor regular season at the Samford Invitational on Friday. The team recorded six top-five finishes and 19 top-10 finishes across both track and field events. The Hilltoppers were led by graduate senior Marlowe Mosley who came out on top in the men's 400-meter race.
For the second consecutive week, Mosley won the men's 400-meter race, this time with a season-best 47.66. It's his fastest time in the event since running it in the 2020 Marshall Invitational. Additionally, that mark puts him at the top of Conference USA, passing Southern Miss' Trey Johnson who ran 47.83 at UAB's Vulcan Invite in January.

"Overall, I'm okay with how he ran tonight," WKU assistant coach Tosha Ansley said of Mosley's race. "He had some flaws here and there. He knows where the mental breakdown was, and he knows where he needs to pick it up. The load is starting to come off and they're starting to come into their own. As long as he can learn how to race and stick to the running plan, he will be alright."

WKU only competed in a few other sprint races this weekend as the squad turns their focus to the C-USA Championships next weekend.

"We have to get our bodies together for conference next week," Ansley continued. "That's basically going to be the whole week, the game plan… For them, they're still coming off a load and trying to figure that out and we have to get it right which might be difficult with the weather. That is how it is. We're going to the conference championship with the idea that we're going to have to take everything we can get, and if you want it, you're going to have to take it."

The distance squad continues to make improvements over each meet as the crew saw nine personal bests across races 800 meters and longer. Freshman Casey Buchanan finished fourth in the 800 with a time of 1:55.20 while Clint Sherman also finished fourth in the 3,000-meter with a personal best of 8:36.01. Will Perrone finished fifth in the 5,000-meter, the longest race of the meet, with a PR of 15:54.66.

On the women's distance side, all three runners in the mile notched collegiate personal bests: Savannah Heckman, Maddy Hurt and Lucy Rutherford. Rutherford and Hurt also PR'ed in the 3,000-meter and Carley Maskos logged a time of 19:35.14 in the 5,000-meter.

"With this meet coming five days after our last, I didn't have a ton of expectations, but, I felt like today was a success overall for my group," WKU assistant coach Brooks LeCompte opened. "Carley Maskos had a solid first collegiate 5k, Will Perrone with a 5k PR, Clint Sherman ran a lifetime best in the 3k. Casey Buchanan chopped a little more time off his 800 debut and is now ranked #2 in the C-USA as of today. Savannah Heckman and Maddy Hurt ran PRs in the mile and Lucy Rutherford had a great run in the 3k for her first time out. I think we now can take a day to rest and use the next week to prepare for the championships!"

In the throwing events, WKU recorded four top-10 finishes across men's shot put and men's weight throw. Freshman Kaison Barton finished fifth in shot put and eighth in weight throw. Junior Brett Brannon placed ninth in weight throw while sophomore John Elam finished seventh in shot.

"Kaison had another strong performance to back up his C-USA Athlete of the Week award," said WKU Track & Field head coach Brent Chumbley.

Sophomore Devon Montgomery finished third in men's pole vault with a jump of 4.55 meters. On the women's side, freshman Allison Ferguson logged a personal best of 3.35 meters.

"Our vaulters jumped well today and we are excited about that as we head into the conference championships next week," Chumbley added.

WKU has now completed its indoor regular season and will move on to the 2021 Conference USA Indoor Track & Field Championships on Feb. 20-21 at the Birmingham Crossplex.

"I am happy where we are at and if we can get on the line healthy next week, we should have a much-improved showing compared to last year despite the pandemic. Our team's been focused and working hard."

Men's Results
60m
8^th – Dartez Hamlin – 6.96 (6.952)
24^th – Steven Simmons – 8.94
60m hurdles
10^th – Cedric Johnson – 9.12*
400m
1^st – Marlowe Mosley – 47.66
7^th – Jonathan Allen – 50.55*
800m
4^th – Casey Buchanan – 1:55.20*
1 mile
6^th – Dedrick Troxell – 4:17.04
3000m
4^th – Clint Sherman – 8:36.01*
10^th – Emerson Wells – 9:01.63
5000m
5^th – Will Perone – 15:54.66*
Shot Put
5^th – Kaison Barton – 16.01m
7^th – John Elam – 14.99m
Weight Throw
8^th – Kaison Barton – 15.97m
9^th – Brett Brannon – 15.96m
13^th – Joel Dittoe – 14.90m
16^th – Jake Robinson – 13.82m*
Pole Vault
3^rd - Devon Montgomery – 4.55m

Women's Results
60m Hurdles
9^th – Samyzia Sears – 9.05*
1 mile
8^th – Savannah Heckman – 5:10.92*
13^th – Maddy Hurt – 5:21.97*
17^th – Lucy Rutherford – 5:28.00*
3000m
7^th – Savannah Heckman – 10:29.65
18^th – Lucy Rutherford – 10:48.76*
22^nd – Maddy Hurt – 11:07.96*
5000m
9^th – Carley Maskos – 19:35.14*
Weight Throw
17^th – Mary Claire Redden – 12.08m
Pole Vault
10^th – Nikki Ogorek – 3.35m
13^th – Allison Ferguson – 3.35m*

*signifies collegiate PR