Men's Track & Field 2/22/2020 11:19:00 AM

Men's Track Hits Three More A Standards at K-State Steve Miller Open

Stars Reach Marks in 60-meters, 4x400 Relay

MANHATTAN, Kan. - In a schedule change from what was originally announced, the Oklahoma City University men's track team participated in the Steve Miller Open at Kansas State University on Saturday, claiming three more A standard qualifying marks

Kimani Gardner and Ian Thomas each reached the NAIA A standard in the 60-meter dash, and the 4x400 meter relay team posted a qualifying time that also secured their spot in the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Gardner and Thomas finished first and second in the 60-meter dash at the event. Gardner crossed in a time of 6.87 to claim the win, which hit the NAIA A standard again, though it did not reach his season best time from earlier in the month. He was just one one-hundredth of a second ahead of Thomas, who's 6.88 time also hit the A Standard, and it was his best time of the year. The two were joined on the A standard list by the OCU 4x400-meter relay team. The quartet of Thomas, Antravius Perkins, Bryce McConnell and Ronique Todman posted a time of 3:20.16, which is the sixth fastest time in the NAIA this season.

While those were the only three qualifying marks the Stars reached on Saturday, they did post five additional top-5 finishes in other events. Leslie James finished fourth in the 200-meter dash, posting a time of 22.94 seconds, and Todman equaled that fourth place performance in the 400-meter event with a time of 50.49 seconds. Ilijah Coleman won the 1,000-meter run in 2:34.95, Kibrom Elias was second in the 3,000-meters in 8:47.87, and Andrew Barker jumped a distance of 5.62 meters in the long jump to finish fifth.

The Stars have six qualifiers who are locked into the NAIA Indoor National Championship field with A Standard marks. Gardner and Thomas are both locked into the 60-meter event, Kipruto Cherutich is qualified in both the 3,000 and 5,000-meter events, and OCU has both the 4x400-meter and the Distance Medley Relay teams in the field. Five others have to wait and see if they will be included in the Championship field, as they have posted B Standard marks - Perkins and Thomas in the 200-meters, Todman in the 400-meters, Cherutich in the mile, and Max McNneill in the 5,000-meters.

The final qualifier lists for the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships will be announced on Friday, Feb. 28, at 10 a.m. CST on the NAIA website at naia.org.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

Kipruto Cherutich: Senior

Ilijah Coleman: 5' 11"; Senior

Bryce McConnell: Sophomore

Antravius Perkins: Freshman

Ian Thomas: Junior

Andrew Barker: 5' 9"; Freshman

Kimani Gardner: 5' 8"; Junior

Players Mentioned

Kipruto Cherutich
: Senior

Ilijah Coleman
: 5' 11"; Senior

Bryce McConnell
: Sophomore

Antravius Perkins
: Freshman

Ian Thomas
: Junior

Andrew Barker
: 5' 9"; Freshman

Kimani Gardner
: 5' 8"; Junior