Nine Kangaroos grab hardware at Mid-Con Championships

Track-and-Field

By: David Cordill

Posted: 3/5/07

Led by junior high-jumper Courtney Huber, who successfully defended her title from her 2006 triumph, the UMKC indoor track-and-field squad recorded 11 top-four finishes at the Mid-Continent Conference Championships in Evansville, Ill., Feb. 25-26.

Oral Roberts University chalked up the most points for the women's squads with 198.50. On the men's side, Southern Utah University came out on top, scoring a total of 206.

The UMKC men and women finished fourth and fifth respectively among league competitors with members of the women's team boasting either gold, silver or bronze in five events.

Though many of the top finishers for the Roos were pleased with the results, a few were not totally satisfied with their performances.

Huber, whose leap of 5-08 equaled her school record, bested her peers in the women's high jump. Still not completely satisfied, Huber aspired to go higher.

"I was really disappointed because I wanted to jump 5-10," Huber said. "That was my goal for the whole indoor season."

UMKC junior Jessica Hulbert garnered a third-place result, and sophomore Kathryn Tenkku's scored a fourth-place finish in the same event.

Junior sprinter Stephanie Williams - who, along with freshman teammates Orriana Rackley, Adriana Blakely and Lacey Modlin, participated in the 4-by-400 meter relay team that took silver for the Kangaroos at 3:54.76 - topped UMKC's women athletes in scoring for the meet, and recorded personal best times in three out of four events.

"I'm pretty happy about that," Williams said about the latter achievement. "I wanted to get more medals and All-Conference. That was the only disappointing thing. Other than that, it was a pretty good meet."

Men's triple jumper Charlie Larson, sophomore, won the silver for UMKC after setting a career mark of 47-03. Larson's previous best was 46 feet. Seemingly content his new mark, Larson still wanted to do better with his effort at the championships.

"I was kind of disappointed because I got beat on my last jump," Larson said. "It was a good performance; it just should've turned out a little better."

UMKC distance runner Sara Hiller, junior, stood out for the Roos as well. Hiller finished second in the women's 5000-meter run with a time of 17:31.49. Her fifth-place time of 10:07.34 in the women's 3000 meter run set a new school record.

In the women's triple jump, Kangaroo Khadian Kelly, sophomore, bounded 38-10.50, good enough for the bronze medal.

Other notable finishes for the Kangaroos at the Mid-Con indoor championships included the following results, all fourth-place:

Summer Ketron, junior sprinter, recorded a fourth-place showing in the women's 60-meter dash at 7.89. Colin Smith, junior, in the men's high jump, finished at a height of 6-05.00. Junior shot putter Sky Hagy recorded a heave of 46-09.00. The men's 4-by-400 relay team of juniors Pete Kisicki, Kenny Webb and Justin Simonich, and senior Russell Dotson, had a combined result of 3:35.95.

dcordill@umkc.edu