FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Katelynn Dix and Seth Stoltz would record program records in the 60m and long jump, while Josh DeVries and Ashley Verplank each earned the WHAC Title in the pole vault on night one of the conference championships in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The CU men totaled 62 team points on night one to sit in second overall, while the women recorded 57.50 points to sit in third. The WHAC Championships will finish up tomorrow starting at 1 p.m. back on the campus of Indiana Tech. 
 
Men's Results:
Men's action opened with two finals qualifiers from Carter Sabin and Phoenix Velthouse. They finished with 8.56 and 8.65 times respectively in the 60m hurdles to advance to Saturday's finals in the event. 
 
The men's 4x800 crew of Nate Vruggink, Patrick Adams, Luke Pohl, and Spencer VanderZwagg finished with a time of 7:53.67 to earn second at the WHAC Championships. The team would not qualify for nationals with the mark but earned eight team points, finishing second at the event. 
 
Seth Stoltz started his strong day with a final's qualification in the 60m prelim with a time of 7.01. 
 
Seth Stoltz then immediately moved over to the long jump where he recorded a best jump of 7.04m. The mark serves as a new school record and is an NAIA Provisional Qualifier for the Indoor Championships in early March. Stoltz finished second at the WHAC Championships for eight team points. 
 
Three men scored team points in the 5000m as Carter VanderMeer, Jamin Thompson, and Luke Koopman finished fifth through seventh respectively. Vandermeer ran a new PR of 15:40.50 to highlight the action.  
 
Phoenix Velthouse tied his PR in the high jump to finish third and score six team points. Brad Holbrook also cleared 1.91m and finished fourth for five team points in the event. 
 
Cornerstone saw their second WHAC Champion late in the evening and first on the men's side with Josh DeVries clearing 4.75m for first place and another NAIA Auto Standard. Peter Willcome also scored team points in the event, finishing sixth with a mark of 3.70m. 
 
Ryan Shinabery and Nick Huynh ended day one of the men's action with strong outings in the shot put. Shinnabery, the freshman, would earn fifth overall with a best throw of 13.27m. Nick Huynh was right behind his teammate with a sixth-place finish and best throw of 13.22m. The two combined for seven more team points for the Golden Eagles. 
 
Women's Results:
The day opened on the women's side with Braely Herrema earning a qualification to the 60m hurdle finals with a PR of 9.15 seconds. 
 
Next was the women's 4x800 crew. The group of Kori Baumann, Jessica Jarski, Malarie Pinwar and Anna Martin ran a time of 9:34.9 to finish third and score six team points. The mark anchored by a time of 2:19 from Martin also earned an NAIA Auto Qualification in the event. 
 
In the 60m, Katelynn Dix highlighted the action with a freshman record and school record time of 7.87. She would advance to the finals with a fifth-place finish in the prelims. Morgan Vargo also qualified for finals with a time of 7.98 seconds. 
 
Haley Nieuwkoop ran for the first time in a while, battling injury and was able to record an 18:01.36 to earn second overall with an NAIA Auto Standard, and eight team points. Freshman Rachel Barone added three team points with a sixth-place finish of 20:30.35. 
 
Braely Herrema added six team points in the high jump with a third-place finish. She cleared 1.64m for a new PR and joined teammate Kaitlin Essig with an NAIA Provisional Standard this season. Kaitlin Essig tied for sixth for 2.5 team points with a mark of 1.54m.
 
The Golden Eagles first WHAC Champion was Ashley Verplank. She cleared 3.92m to win the very competitive pole vault competition. The title earns 10 team points and keeps her streak alive of NAIA Auto Qualifying marks. Tatum Townsend also scored in the event with a mark of 3.52m to earn sixth for three team points. 
 
Jenna Breuker was able to score for Cornerstone in the shot put as she finished sixth overall with a best throw of 12.37m for three team points. 
 
Two more athletes scored on the women's side in the long jump as Morgan Vargo earned a new PR of 5.81m for third in the event and six team points. She was joined by freshman Katelynn Dix who went 5.34m also for a new PR to finish seventh and earn two team points. 
 
Night one ended with CU seeing a pair of scores in the weight throw. Jenna Breuker was once again the top throws finisher with a third-place finish of 15.19m to score six team points. Claire Meacham continued her dominant freshman season scoring as well with a seventh-place finish of 14.11m for two more team points. 
 
What's Next?
Cornerstone continues WHAC Championship action tomorrow at 1 p.m. for the final day of conference action. 
 
Track & Field Contact: Jesse Campbell 
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