The Kansas Wesleyan men's 4x800-meter relay team was at its best at crunch time.
Competing at home in the Kansas Conference Championships, the Coyotes outran the field en route to victory Friday night at JRI Hospitality Stadium and the Graves Family Sports Complex. KWU's time of 7 minutes, 35.47 seconds outpaced runner-up Saint Mary which finished second in 7:36.70.
The time met the NAIA's A qualifying standard and moved the Coyotes into place seventh nationally. The team consists of Ty Davidson, Triston Cattone, Julian Avila and Wyatt Johnson.
"They ran faster than they did the Drake Relays (last week) and it's one of the best meets in the country," coach Kyle Hiser said. "Just strong from the get-go once again. Kind of goes back to competition like Saint Mary. We know they're always going to be strong and they're pushing us to be better. It's fun to have competition like that in the conference and to see our guys rise to the occasion.
"As long as (assistant) coach (Garrett) Young is here we're here we are always going to have 4x8's that are in contention to win."
The two-day event is back in Salina for the first time since 2019 and the Coyotes took advantage of the opportunity with several outstanding efforts.
Keegan Lott placed second and Matt Lucas third in the javelin, Lott reaching the NAIA B qualifying standard with a throw of 59.03 meters. Lucas just recently joined the team after playing volleyball and threw 57.70.
"Keegan got his national qualifying mark he's been searching for that all year," Hiser said. "Lucas was just off the national qualifying mark just three weeks of training after playing men's volleyball. Really strong performance in both those guys. Keegan is just the heartbeat of that throws group."
Giovanni Rios placed second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:27.27. Evan Pearce was sixth (9:45.35), Brenden Ellis seventh (9:48.06) and Ian Doss ninth (9:55.04).
"Giovanni is new to the event. We battle, he says he's an 800-meter runner but he's a distance runner and he showed that today," Hiser said. "Just off the (NAIA) standard. Wish we could have seen him in that event earlier in his career but to come out and be all-conference first team in the steeplechase, an event that's super tough in our conference, is something. He put his nose in it, and he was competitive all the way through."
KWU scored big points in the 10,000-meter run with Damion Jackson placing third (31:45.73), Austin Hess fourth (31:49.59), Jake Cruz fifth (32:09.25) and Tytus Reed eighth (32:25.07). Cisco Alvarez was 10th (33.21.36).
"Austin Hess, I can't enough about him," Hiser said. "Fifth-year senior came back for another year. When you talk about a Kansas Wesleyan Coyote that is Austin Hess. He embodies our team and our spirit, and I can't thank that guy enough. One of my first recruits here and to say he's grown as an athlete is an understatement.
"Damion Jackson just comes out and does Damion Jackson things. He runs, places high. And then Jake Cruz, I always tell him he's a 10K guy, he kind of wants to battle me, says I'm 1,500 then shows he's a 10K guy and places fifth. Tytus Reed was awesome."
Lott also placed ninth in the hammer throw (43.00m), Austin Baird was 12th (41.43), Keyon Baccus 19th (34.73) and Dylan Worrell 21st (34.06).
Darius Archuleta was 13th in the long jump (6.33 meters) and James Preston 18th (6.06).
The KCAC Championships continue Saturday with field events starting at 11 a.m. and running events at 3:35 p.m.