Eight is Enough – Mside turns in strong midweek performances

ORANGE CITY, IOWA – The days continue to draw closer and closer to the 2022 Great Plains Athletic Conference Championships.

The progressions that head coach Dave Nash's Morningside University's men's and women's outdoor track and field teams continue to crescendo to what could be a memorable weekend in early May. That thread resumed its probability with eight individual event championships at the Northwestern College Red Raider Open Wednesday and Thursday, April 13 and 14.

Senior women's distance star Kristine Honomichl (Westminster, Colo.) was one of the main headliners at DeValois Stadium. In her first career 10,000 meter attempt, she was the event winner in brisk and windy conditions. Her time of 39:22.36 placed her among the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics' top 40 marks. It also put her third-fastest early on in conference-related times.

The Mustangs women's team was just getting started with the 10K win. Senior Rylee Olson (Hardwick, Minn.) (javelin); sophomore Emily Chicoine (Primghar, Iowa) (400); seniors Emalee Fundermann (Anthon, Iowa) and Jo McKibben (Mapleton, Iowa) (800 and 1500); and the 4x400 meter relay also stop atop the awards podium. Freshman Ashton Verdoorn (Sergeant Bluff, Iowa) and senior Ro Paschal (Mancos, Colo.) were champions for Nash's men's team in the 200 and 800.

Senior Tyler Janssen (Ames, Iowa) and freshman Victor West (Sioux City, Iowa) managed to rocket up the conference event leaderboard in the javelin to add in for the men's team's superlatives. Janssen's 141-foot, five-inch effort put her 12^th, and West's 117-foot, one-inch toss snuck him inside the first 25 at No. 23.

Nash's teams continue their outdoor campaigns at the University of South Dakota's Challenge Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23.