NORTH NEWTON - After the distance squad opened its season on Friday night at Saint Mary, the rest of the Kansas Wesleyan Men's Outdoor Track team opened its season on Saturday at the Bethel Invitational at Thresher Stadium.
There were plenty of solid performances for the Coyotes.
Keegan Lott won the discus throw with a mark of 48.85m, recording a new personal best with the performance. Keyon Baccus also set a new personal best in the event with a fourth place finish and mark of 44.15m. Austin Baird finished 16th with a mark of 31.06m.
The 4x100m relay team of Kean Dinkel, Andrew Smith, Cayden Purcell and Zamari Burrell finished second with a time of 43.22 seconds.
Keegan Lott placed second in the shot put with a mark of 15.04m. Dylan Worrell was eighth with a mark of 13.69m, Keyon Baccus was 15th with a mark of 12.51m, Austin Baird was 18th with a mark of 10.79m and Riley Garcia was 23rd with a mark of 10.06m.
In the 100m preliminaries, Zamari Burrell placed third leading the Coyotes, but did not run in the finals. His preliminary time was 10.83 seconds. Also in the preliminaries Tyler Fontenot was 13th in 11.16 seconds, Lorenzo Vaccari was 16th in 11.21 seconds, Kean Dinkel was 18th in 11.27, DeJaylon Beal was 24th in 11.35, Sidney Washington was 26th in 11.45, and Trevor Peal was 29th in 11.69.
Keegan Lott placed fourth in the javelin throw with a mark of 54.82m, setting a new personal best in the event. Riley Garcia placed 15th with a mark of 31.31m.
In the 400m hurdles, Tristan Howard was fourth with a personal best time of 61.96 seconds, and Cayden Purcell was ninth in 65.60 seconds.
In the 110m hurdles, Tristan Howard placed seventh with a time of 16.06 seconds and Riley Garcia was ninth in 21.70 seconds.
Austin Baird placed ninth in the hammer throw with a mark of 40.33m.
In the 400m, Andrew Smith finished ninth to lead the Coyotes with a time of 52.54 seconds. Trevor Peal was 11th in 53 seconds flat, Sidney Washington was 15th in 54.11, Ruben Rivera-Agosto was 16th in 54.50 and DeJaylon Beal was 20th in 56.53.
Kamal Murphy placed ninth in the triple jump with a mark of 12.45m.
In the long jump Riley Garcia placed 13th with a mark of 4.84m.
In the 200m, Kean Dinkel placed 14th with a time of 23.89 seconds, Lorenzo Vaccari was 18th with a time of 24.40, and Kamal Murphy was 19th with a 24.58.
The Coyotes are back in action next weekend at the ESU Relays at Emporia State University on the Zola Witten Track at Welch Stadium.
After some impressive performances by the Kansas Wesleyan Women's Outdoor Track distance squad on Friday night, the rest of the Coyotes got things going on Saturday at the Bethel Invitational.
Wesleyan had some outstanding performances, including already some national qualifiers and school records being set.
The Coyotes went 1-2-3 in the javelin led by Mayce Russell with a throw of 44.08m setting a new school record, and hitting the NAIA A-Standard, and currently has the top mark in the NAIA. Madelyn Wolf also set a new personal best with a second place finish and a NAIA B-Standard mark of 40.43m. Aunisty McNeal finished third with a mark of 36.74m.
Brionna Floyd won the 400m with a time of 62.32 seconds and Julie Rottinghaus got third with a time of 62.94 seconds.
The 4x100m relay team of Markyla Shaw, Julie Rottinghaus, Lauryn Mikkelson and Briona Floyd won the event with a time of 50.71 seconds.
Lauryn Mikkelson was third in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:13.68.
In the shot put, Elizabeth Stout was fifth with a mark of 11.64m, and Chloe Grusing was eighth with a mark of 11.01m.
In the long jump Julie Rottinghaus placed seventh with a mark of 4.44m.
In the discus, Aunisty McNeal was eighth with a mark of 35.25m, Chloe Grusing was 10th with a mark of 34.03m and Roselyn Torres was 15th with a mark of 27.67m.
Brionna Floyd was eighth in the 200m with a time of 27.72 seconds, and Markyla Shaw was ninth in 28.22 seconds.
In the hammer throw, Elizabeth Stout was eighth with a mark of 36.35m and Roselyn Torres was 12th with a mark of 32.42m.