North Manchester, Ind. - The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) concluded the 2024 Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of Manchester University, at Spartan Stadium.
The Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers are the Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Champions, scoring a total of 208 points. The Panthers of Hanover College finished in second place with a total of 179 points. Transylvania University finished in third with 100.50 total points.
Championship superlatives:
Women’s Newcomer of the Year:
Olivia Sparks, Transylvania
Women’s Most Outstanding Throws Athlete of the Year:
Carley Camp, Manchester
Women’s Most Outstanding Jumps Athlete of the Year:
Rofiat Adeyemi, Rose-Hulman
Women’s Most Outstanding Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Year:
Olivia Sparks, Transylvania
Women’s Most Outstanding Distance Athlete of the Year:
Amberliegh Sorensen, Hanover
Women’s Coaching Staff of the Year: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, led by head coach
Larry Cole. Assistant Coaches are:
Derick Lawrence, Christy Sherman, Liz Evans, Emily Lawrence, and
Braelyn Stacy.
All-Conference Honors:
Each athlete and relay team that finished their respective events in First Place is named to the First Team HCAC All-Conference; Second Place finishers are named to the Second Team HCAC All-Conference; and Third Place finishers are named to the Honorable Mention HCAC All-Conference Teams.
Event-by-event thumbnail:
The women’s javelin throw opened up day two on the women’s side, which resulted in
Delaney Sanchez of Manchester University became the first HCAC champion on the women’s side on day two.
Sanchez posted a conference-best 39.25 meter throw for the title and a new HCAC record, personal record, and ranked 30th in DIII.
Jessie Stenger of Hanover earned the title of champion of the women’s discus.
Stenger's winning throw went a distance of 43.32 meters.
Rofiat Adeyemi of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technolgy was crowned champion in the women’s triple jump.
Adeyemi jumped 11.58 meters to win the competition.
Adeyemi's performance in the women’s long jump resulted in being named the HCAC’s women’s Most Outstanding Jumps Athlete of the Year as well as earning a new HCAC record and ranking of 24th in DIII.
Taylor Roark of Transylvania University, found herself atop the women’s high jump podium clearing 1.60 meters. Not only was Roark's 1.60 mark good enough for the women’s high jump championship, she is also ranked 62nd in DIII.
The women’s 4x100 meter relay led to Rose-Hulman becoming champions in the 4x100 Meter Relay. The Fightin’ Engineers team that posted a time of 50.20 was made up of
Narindwa Semakula,
Rofiat Adeyemi,
Alex Adams, and
Emma Johns.
The women’s 1500 meter winner was claimed by Hanover's
Amberliegh Sorensen, not only won the 1500 meter run (4:51.67) and the 5000 meter run (18:56.97) on day two.
Sorensen also won the women’s 800 meter on day two with a time of 2:19.26.
Sorenesen’s dominant performances this weekend resulted in being named the HCAC’s Women’s Most Outstanding Distance Athlete of the Year.
The women’s 100 meter hurdles champion was decided by .47 seconds which led to
Narindwa Semakula of Rose-Hulman being crowned champion of the Women’s 100 Meter Hurdles.
Semakula edged out
Muck of Franklin for the HCAC title with a time of 15.20 seconds and is now ranked 68th in DIII.
The Women’s 400 meter dash champion is
Lisa-Maria Markau of Defiance College.
Markau posted a 59.16 second 400 meter dash for this year's HCAC title.
The women’s 100 meter dash champion was decided by just .06 seconds seconds behind this year's conference champion.
Sarah O’Day of Franklin was crowned as this year's women’s 100 meter dash champion in a race that was as close as it can get.
O'Day finished in 12.38 seconds and is now ranked 38th in DIII.
The women’s 400 meter hurdles champion was determined by nearly half a second.
Jada Hunter-Hays of Rose-Hulman turned in a time of 1:08.29 which was just enough to be crowned champion of this year’s women’s 400 meter hurdles.
Olivia Sparks of Transylvania University, this year's Women’s Most Outstanding Sprints/Hurdles Athlete of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, crossed the line first in the 200 meter dash with a time of 24.93 seconds, good enough to be ranked 33rd in DIII.
The final race of the Outdoor Track and Field Championships was the women’s 4x400 meter relay. The Pioneers of Transylvania found themselves atop the podium in this one posting a blazing time of 4:11.04. The Pioneers 4x400 Meter Relay team was made up of
Abbey Rowe,
Carson Graves,
Kaycee Moore, and
Olivia Sparks.
Women’s Team Rankings - 20 Events Scored
- Rose-Hulman 208
- Hanover 179
- Transylvania 100.50
- Manchester 95
- Mount St. Joseph 56
- Franklin 50.50
- Defiance 29
- Bluffton 26
- Earlham 19
- Anderson 10