SEATTLE - The WAC Indoor T&F Championship saw the ACU men finish in 5 th place scoring 61 points in the team standings, with Grand Canyon University finishing in 1 st just ahead of Utah Valley and UT-Arlington. In the women's team race the ACU women also finish in 5 th with 50 points in the team standings, with Utah Valley finishing in 1 st , followed by Tarleton State and Grand Canyon. The championship included several top-3 finishes for the Wildcats, plus numerous personal bests (PB).
WOMEN
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Competing in her final indoor championship for ACU, Ja'Dasia Sims led the charge winning the high jump with a leap of 5-8.5/1.74m. She also finished 7 th in the 400 (55.79 in the prelims) and led off the Wildcats on the 4x400 relay.
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Natalie Poe got things rolling for the ACU women as she finished 4 th in the pentathlon with a new PB of 3,536 points – an improvement of almost 200 points over her previous PB. Within the pentathlon, she had PB's in 4 of the 5 events, including a huge PB of 5-6/1.69m in the high jump.
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Redshirt freshman Sterling Glenn improved dramatically in the shot put with a 2nd place finish and PB in the event of 44-9/13.64m.
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Kailey Roskop threw the weight throw for a big PB of 56-3.75/17.16 that earned her a 3rd place podium finish.
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Luize Velmere finished in 3 rd place in the triple jump as she jumped over 40 feet indoors for the first time in her career with a leap of 40-5/12.32m that earned her a place on the podium.
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Jess Reyes ran a PB of 2:13.26 in the 800 for a 4 th place finish.
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Avery Myrick also had a PB in the weight throw of 50-2.5/15.30m that earned her a 6th place finish.
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The 4x400 relay finished in 4 th place with a season best time of 3:47.72. The relay was composed of Ja'Dasia Sims, Ja'Kaylon Record, Jess Reyes and freshman Jalyn Childers.
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The distance medley relay finished in 8 th place with a quartet composed of 3 freshmen and a senior. Freshman Gracee Whitaker opened with the 1200-meter leg, followed by Ja'Kaylon Record on the 400, freshman Jalyn Childers running the 800, and freshman Audrey Chitwood anchoring on the 1600-meter leg.
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Special note on 2 9 th place finishes – freshman Aaralyn Strambler placed 9 th in the long jump with a PB jump of 18-2.5/5.55m and after having to withdraw from the pentathlon with an injury, freshman Nele Huth was still able to secure a 9 th place finish in the open shot put, after throwing a huge PR of 41-8/12.70m in the pentathlon SP.
MEN - did not have any first-place finishes, but there were numerous PB's and podium finishes.
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Canaan Fairley had a highly-successful weekend, as he placed 3rd in the heptathlon with a PB total of 5,366 points (an improvement of over 200 points over his previous all-time best.) Within the heptathlon, Canaan won three of the events (60, 60 hurdles and HJ) and had PB's in 5 of the 7 events, including a 7.99 in the 60 hurdles (moves up to #6 ACU all-time) and a high jump of 6-7.5/2.02. He would cap off the weekend by placing 6 th in the open 60 hurdles.
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Miguel Hall grabbed a 2 nd place finish in the 60 hurdles with a time of 7.94 – a few hundredths off his PB time.
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Sutton Welch notched a 3 rd place finish in the weight throw with a PB throw of 58- 10.25/17.94. Teammate Rylan Smart, who spent much of the season rehabbing from an injury was able to come back with a 8 th place finish in the WT as well.
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Cooper Goggans finished his ACU eligibility with a flourish – running a PB in the 800 in the prelims of 1:49.65 (only his 2 nd time under 1:50 indoors) and finishing 3rd in a highly competitive 800-meter final.
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ACU picked up several points late on the first night of competition as freshman Andruw Villa continued his outstanding debut year with a 4 th place finish in the 5K – running a PB of 14:38.55 and veteran Kevin Castruita completed his indoor eligibility with a 6th place finish in the same race.
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Donovan Ramirez, coming back from redshirting all of 2024 due to an injury, continued his comeback by placing 4 th in the triple jump with a leap 49-1/14.96m, just 2 centimeters off his PB set 2 weeks ago.
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Kenan Reil placed 5 th in the 400 with a PB time of 47.72, this after just missing the finals in the 60 hurdles by placing 9 th in the prelims.
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Sophomore Ethan Krause ran to a PR in the 200 of 21.33 to make the finals for the first time in his collegiate conference meet and finished 7 th in the finals.
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Horatio Brooks, who have not long jumped since his freshman year in high school before picking up the event again in the middle of this indoor season, finished 8 th in the LJ with a PB of 22-11/6.98.
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Freshman Vincent Luffey ran a PB of 4:13.05 in the mile to make finals, placing 9th on the final race to just miss scoring in the event.
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The distance medley relay placed 3rd , with freshman Vincent Luffey leading off on the opening 1200-meter leg, Landon Gary following on the 400-meter leg, JP Trook running the 800 meters, and freshman Mark Barajas anchoring on the 1600 meters.
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The 4x400 relay placed 4 th with a quartet composed of Kenan Reil, Cooper Goggans, Ethan Krause, and Landon Gary.
The Wildcats now shift their attention to the outdoor season, which will kick off with ACU hosting the Wes Kittley Invitational at Elmer Gray Stadium on April 21-22.
