BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (2/19/24) – Arkansas State track and field racked up a trio of event crowns on Monday inside the Birmingham Crossplex to highlight a strong opening day at the Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships.

Both squads ended the first day of the two-day event in second place in the team standings. A-State’s men’s team tallied 40.5 points on the day, while the women’s team scored 33 points – one point behind leading Texas State.

Bradley Jelmert cleared a meet-record 5.62m (18-5.25) to win the men’s pole vault, remaining unbeaten this season. He provided 10 of the men’s team’s 17.5 points earned in the event, with John Carswell clearing a career-best 4.92m (16-1.75) in a bronze medal finish and Trace South tying for seventh with a mark of 4.77m (15-7.75).

Michelle Ogbemudia broke her own school record to capture the women’s weight throw crown. She tossed the implement 21.12m/69-3.5 on her second attempt to give the A-State women 10 early points.

The Red Wolves’ final win of the first day came in the women’s distance medley relay. A-State led nearly the entire race and won with a time of 11:43.90 – a mark that stands third in program history. The men’s squad then ended the day with a third-place finish, combining for a time of 10:07.15.

Dawson Mayberry took silver in the men’s 5000 meters with a time of 14:31.55 while Jacob Pyeatt crossed in 14:40.51 to place fifth, resulting in a dozen points for the men’s squad. Rylan Brown (15:21.52) and Coleman Wilson (15:41.14) placed 10^th and 16^th, respectively.

Three runners scored in the women’s 5000, led by Jaybe Shufelberger’s fifth-place, and career-best, time of 16:55.63, which stands fourth in program history. Elizabeth Martin (17:02.75) and Olivia Walter (17:11.63) placed sixth and eighth, respectively, with times that stand sixth and seventh in A-State indoor history.

Colby Eddowes, who placed fourth in the open long jump final (7.28m/23-10.75), leads the heptathlon after the first four events with 3,296 points. Alden Wetzel ended the day with 2,531 points to sit eighth.

Izzy Daines and Miranda Burgett placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the pentathlon with point totals of 3,522 and 3,474.

All four of A-State’s competitors in the men’s mile advanced to Tuesday’s final, with top qualifier Hannes Fahl and Lasse Funck winning their heats to automatically qualify along with time qualifiers Noah McMurtrey and Ryan Parson. Funck and Fahl also earned spots in the 800-meter final, posting the top two qualifying marks.

Rahel Broemmel was one of two women to qualify for the women’s mile final, leading all runners with a time of 4:57.11 in the second heat. Anna Hunter ran a personal-best 5:02.39 and qualified on time.

Kenyon Parker and Will Glass posted times of 8.02 and 8.03 in the men’s 60-meter hurdles prelims en route to advancing to the event final, while Tyra Nabors matched her season best in her qualifying race, running 8.48 to make the final 8.

Spencer Taylor earned bids to Tuesday’s final rounds in both the 200 meters and 400 meters. The freshman continued his standout season with qualifying marks of 21.83 and 48.60, respectively.

In the men’s weight throw, Noa Isaia placed ninth with a throw of 17.02m (55-10.25) followed by Chris Boyd in 10^th with a personal-best 15.67m (51.5).

NEXT UP

The Sun Belt Conference Indoor Championships resumes at 10 a.m. Tuesday with the continuation of the heptathlon, setting the stage for a full day of finals. ESPN Plus will carry the action, beginning with the women’s mile final at 1:30 p.m. A-State is seeking to defend four straight team championship sweeps in the indoor championships.

SOCIAL MEDIA

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