WKU Earns Trio of Third-Place Finishes on Final Day of C-USA Championships

Sunday, February 21

Birmingham, Ala.

Western Kentucky University

Conference USA Indoor Championships

WKU Earns Trio of Third-Place Finishes on Final Day of C-USA Championships

2/21/2021 5:11:00 PM | Track & Field

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – WKU Track & Field tacked on three additional third-place finishes on Sunday as it wrapped up its indoor season at the 2021 Conference USA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Sophomore Grace Turner tied for third in the high jump with a personal best while graduate senior Marlowe Mosley took home the bronze medal in both the 200 and 400-meter dashes.

"Overall, we improved from last year in scoring so that's a good start," said Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Brent Chumbley on the meet. "We have some bumps and bruises that really ended up hurting us in the long-run this weekend, so we have to rest up and get healthy in order to tackle outdoor season."

WKU started the day with a standout performance from Turner in the high jump pit. She jumped 1.69 meters (5' 6.5") to tie for third in the event. The jump bested Turner's previous collegiate PR by almost three whole inches.

"For Grace to go out and jump a lifetime best today was outstanding," said Chumbley on the sophomore. "She has essentially had no practice in the event this season and she exceeded expectations by making that jump and getting to the podium, in her pole vault spikes no less. I'm incredibly proud of her."

Men's shot put also highlighted the morning as junior John Elam logged a PR for the second day in a row and scored for the Hilltoppers with a throw of 15.40 meters. He finished sixth overall in the shot put.

"John led us all weekend with two solid PRs and scoring for us in both of the throwing events," Chumbley added on the thrower. "We want to peak at conference and that's exactly what he did, and I'm really proud of him for that."

Beginning with the running events, juniors Dedrick Troxell and Clint Sherman continued to add points on the board for the men as they finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in the mile. Troxell was able to add three points while Sherman contributed two.

"Today was a decent day for our group," said assistant coach Brooks LeCompte. "In one year we have come so far, but we are positive about the future and will continue to build the culture of being a competitive distance group in C-USA. We put up points on the men's side yesterday in the DMR, and today with our two guys in the mile final. We also had some close ones in the 5k yesterday with Emerson and Savannah, being one place from scoring."

Next, Mosley ran in the 400-meter final. He recorded a time of 48.05, good for third and six points for the Red and White. He went on to log another third-place finish, this time in the 200-meter. He found the podium with a 21.58. Teammate Dartez Hamlin finished just behind him in fourth with 21.74 for his time.

"It wasn't what we expected," said assistant coach Tosha Ansley. "We wanted more, but it's a learning experience. That's all we can do, we can grow from it and put it into perspective for outdoor season. Hopefully, we'll use that to continue to push forward, continue to train and keep us motivated with the knowing that we have another opportunity once outdoor comes. We need to improve because now we have something to prove."

WKU finished off the day with the 3,000-meter races and men's 4x400-meter relay. In the 3,000, Sherman and Emerson Wells finished 15^th and 16^th for the men. Senior Savannah Heckman led the women in 16^th while Lucy Rutherford finished 23^rd and Maddy Hurt and Carley Maskos each recorded PRs at 28^th and 31^st, respectively.

"The younger student-athletes stepped up with some big PRs including Carley and Maddy in the 3k," added LeCompte. "Lucy probably had the biggest improvement of anyone this meet with an 11 second PR in the mile and 16 second PR in the 3k."

The 4x400-meter relay finished seventh as Jonathan Allen, Casey Buchanan, Troxell and Devon Montgomery ran for the squad.

On the men's side, WKU scored 24 more points than in 2020, finishing in seventh with 42 points total. WKU finished 12^th on the women's team scoreboard with six points.

Men's Results
200m final
3^rd – Marlowe Mosley – 21.58 – 6 points
4^th – Dartez Hamlin – 21.74 – 5 points
400m final
3^rd – Marlowe Mosley – 48.05 – 6 points
1 mile final
6^th – Dedrick Troxell – 4:14.91 – 3 points
7^th – Clint Sherman – 4:17.03* – 2 points
3,000m
15^th – Clint Sherman – 8:46.23
16^th – Emerson Wells – 8:51.72
4x400-meter relay
7^th – Allen, Buchanan, Troxell, Montgomery – 3:35.20 – 2 points
Shot Put
6^th – John Elam – 15.40m* – 3 points
11^th – Kaison Barton – 13.66m

60m prelims
11^th – Elliott Bryant – 6.99
200m prelims
2^nd – Marlowe Mosley – 21.47* – qualified
4^th – Dartez Hamlin – 21.73 – qualified
400m prelims
1^st – Marlowe Mosley – 47.70 – qualified
9^th – Jonathan Allen – 49.96*
800m prelims
11^th – Dedrick Troxell – 1:58.76
12^th – Casey Buchanan – 1:58.82
1 mile prelims
4^th – Dedrick Troxell – 4:15.75 – qualified
6^th – Clint Sherman – 4:16.42* – qualified
5,000m
9^th – Emerson Wells – 15:04.63*
DMR
3^rd – Sherman, Allen, Buchanan, Troxell – 10:14.86 – 6 points
Pole Vault
9^th – Devon Montgomery – 4.44m
Weight Throw
4^th – Brett Brannon – 17.23m* – 5 points
5^th – John Elam – 16.56m* – 4 points
11^th – Kaison Barton – 14.54m
13^th – Joel Dittoe – 13.95m

Women's Results
High Jump
t-3^rd – Grace Turner – 1.69m* - 5 points
3,000m
16^th – Savannah Heckman – 10:22.25
23^rd – Lucy Rutherford – 10:32.56*
28^th – Maddy Hurt – 10:44.98*
31^st – Carley Maskos – 11:29.68*

60m prelims
10^th – Alexis Williams – 7.77
200m prelims
DNS – Alexis Williams
1 mile prelims
14^th – Savannah Heckman – 5:16.30
15^th – Lucy Rutherford – 5:17.27
20^th – Maddy Hurt – 5:22.73
5,000m
9^th – Savannah Heckman – 17:55.00
18^th – Carley Maskos – 19:19.74*
Pentathlon
DNS - Samyzia Sears
Pole Vault
8^th – Grace Turner – 3.56m – 1 point
NH – Allison Ferguson
NH – Nikki Ogorek
Weight Throw
24^th - Mary Claire Redden – 11.73m

*denotes collegiate PR
Bold, points earned