Cloud County Athletics
HUTCHINSON - National Championship performances from Mohamed Ahmed in the hammer throw and the 4x800 meter relay team consisting of Ludjenie Mondesir, Passion Crews, Abigail Fisher, and Pamela Milano would highlight day one of the 2022 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Gowans Stadium in Hutchinson on Thursday.
Five total events would be scored on Thursday out of the 22 total events throughout the weekend, with the Cloud County women holding down second place after scoring 27 total points while the T-Bird men sit in fourth after day one with a total of 19 points.
Entering the weekend with the top overall mark in the NJCAA and a large lead over the rest of the field, Ahmed would cap off his freshman campaign by recording a mark of 62.78 meters (205 ft. - 11 in.) to best the field of 18 throwers by over 20 feet. CCCC would also get a fourth-place finish from Timothy Nyinguan in the long jump (7.47 meters, 24 ft. - 6.25 in.) and eighth-place finish from Brad Davies-Pughe (7.28 meters, 23 ft. - 10.75 in.) to go along with a sixth-place finish from the 4x800 meter relay team (Michael Iyali, Quwayne Reid, Rylan Cheney, and Hassan Abidi) to close out day one scoring for the T-Bird men. In the preliminary races, Ephraim Lerkin would post a time of 52.88 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles to qualify for Saturday's final by posting the seventh-fastest time among a 30-runner field.
As for the Cloud County women, the National Title performance in the 4x800 meter relay (9:22.08) would be one of three results for CCCC that would see either first or second-place finishes for the T-Birds. National Runner-up performances would come from Maggie Armstrong in the pole vault (3.16 meters, 10 ft. - 4.25 in.) while Lucy Ndungu would make a big final lap move in the 10,000 meters to run a time of 38:44.75 and take second in her first event of the weekend. The final scoring for the T-Birds would come in the pole vault with Mia Manley clearing 3.01 meters (9 ft. - 10.5 in.) to take sixth overall to give Cloud County two top-eight finishers in the event.
As for preliminary races, freshman Vimbayi Maisvorewa would put on another show in the 400 meters by running the fastest qualifying time at 52.82 seconds which would set a new Zimbabwe National Record before going on to anchor the 4x100 meter relay team (Miracle Thompson, Leonie Beu, Isila Apkup, and Maisvorewa) to break the school record with a time of 45.55 seconds and qualify in fourth for Saturday's finals.
Friday action will see the completion of the multi-events with Vanessa Mercera competing in the heptathlon while Andrew Betton, Anson Moses, and Deandre Elliot compete in the decathlon. Other events where CCCC will look to score points on Friday will be the men's shot put (Vincent Ugwoke) and the 3,000-meter steeplechase (Mondesir, Melody Ochana) with other preliminary races also taking place throughout the day.