The Chadron State College track and field team has one more chance to improve its qualifying marks for the 2022 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships when it visits Black Hills State University on Saturday for the Stinger Open in Spearfish.
The top 18 declared student-athletes in each event will be eligible to compete in the indoor track and field championships. Each team can enter one relay team per relay event. An athlete must have a mark to be eligible to compete.
Currently, 24 CSC men rank among the top 18 in 11 different events, and 11 women in nine. Some of those on the bubble will be looking to shore up their spots this weekend in Spearfish.
Quincy Efeturi, a freshman who arrived on campus at semester from Nigeria, has a season best of 22.35 seconds in the men’s 200 meters, tying him for 17th in the conference. He’s tied with sophomore teammate Osvaldo Cano. Before coming to CSC, Efeturi had a PR of 21.73 seconds, which, if duplicated this weekend, would rank him third.
In the men’s 400, Harley Rhoades ranks 17th at a time of 50.65, which is his indoor PR. His best time came last week at the SDSU Indoor Classic, suggesting he might be in line for further improvement.
Freshman Logan Peila is three-tenths of a second out of the 400 meters field at 50.95 seconds, ranking him 21st. He’s also about a quarter second away from qualifying in the 60 meter hurdles, sitting at 25th with a time of 8.87 seconds.
Conner McCracken, a junior college transfer this year, is in 18th in the men’s high jump after clearing 1.91 meters at CSC’s home meet. He has made successful attempts at 1.90 in both of his last two jumps over the past two weeks, but has missed at 1.95 all six tries.
Three men are on the edge in the weight throw. Christopher Jennings, Reid Spady, and Parker Gonser are 16th, 17th, and 19th, and all three look to get a bit higher up the charts in Spearfish.
On the women’s side, junior Miranda Gilkey is probably already qualified in the triple jump, but both she and freshman Jourdaine Cerenil could use another six inches on their long jump marks to try and make it.
In the women’s throws, Courtney Smith has pretty well established a spot in the weight throw, ranking ninth, but she’s on the outside looking in at 19th in shot put, with a mark of 12.13 meters. Rebecca Monahan and Madyson Schliep could use assurance in the weight throw, sitting 16th and 17th, respectively.
Finally, freshman distance runner Hannah Wilkie will look to knock two or three seconds off her time of 2:20.19 to squeeze into the field in the 800 meters.
Several other CSC student-athletes already rank among the best in the league, and will compete for provisional qualifying marks.
The Eagles’ two national qualifiers from 2020, Naishaun Jernigan and Brodie Roden, will not compete due to injury, and are unlikely to register marks for the indoor season. Roden holds the RMAC record in the men’s 400 meters, while Jernigan is the defending RMAC runner-up in the men’s long jump.