William Woods' Cook, Emme qualify for NAIA Nationals at CMU Invite

William Woods junior Rhett Cook and redshirt senior Madeline Emme each punched their tickets to the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championship with their showings at the Central Methodist University Invitational on Friday.

Cook became the Owls' first national qualifier with his first-place showing in the men's 400-meter dash. Cook's time of 48.45 seconds was a personal best, while also eclipsing the NAIA "B' standard. Senior Nick Zink garnered third in the same event in :49.13.

Cook placed third in the 200 with a time of :21.94, while junior Gabriel Dos Santos collected fifth in a personal-best time of :22.43.

Dos Santos also set a new personal best in the 100, clocking a runner-up time of :10.82. Freshman Kyle Gabrielson clocked a 4:19.64 to place third in the 1,500, while sophomore Timothy Ward took fifth place in the 800 with a time of 2:03.02.

Senior Alonzo Findlay notched second place in both the shot put (14.44 meters) and the hammer throw (50.75), the latter being a personal best. Findlay took third in the discus with a heave of 43.03.

Junior Adam Smith earned third in the hammer throw with a personal-best of 50.07, while his 39.37 mark in the discus got him fifth place.

Freshman Damion Tipler (1.75) and sophomore Preston Wolfe (1.65) placed third and fourth, respectively in the high jump. Freshman Joseph Mueller earned fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 12.33.

Mueller was a part of the Owls' "A' squad in the 1,600 relay. He teamed with junior Martell Washington and freshmen Denver Horn and Daniel Lantz to clock a runner-up time of 3:32.45. Ward and Wolfe were a part of William Woods' "B' team, joining junior Tyler Jones and freshman Phillip Kulpinksi to earn fifth place in a time of 3:48.59.

The Owls totaled 121 points to claim third in the team standings. The host Eagles (187) and Truman State University (158) comprised the rest of the top three.

Emme's broke the NAIA "B' Standard in the women's 100 hurdles with a preliminary time of :14.98. She clocked a :15.05 in the finals to place second, while freshman Alliah McClendon took fourth in :15.39.

Freshman Madelyn Scrivner won the shot put with a throw of 11.44, while taking third in the hammer throw at 41.71. Freshman Rachel Barker added a fifth-place showing in the shot put, finishing with a throw of 10.2.

Freshman Stephanie Clawson garnered third in the 400 hurdles with a finish of 1:13.82.

Freshman Grace Young posted third place in both the 800 (2:25.79) and the 1,500 (4:57.12), setting personal-best times in each. Freshman Jami Brandow finished fourth in the 1,500 in 5:04.07, while freshman Hannah Rutherford claimed fourth in the 800 at 2:28.36.

Junior Dominica Prokup picked up fourth place in the 100 with a time of :12.84, while McClendon collected fifth in the 200 at :26.39.

Barker (32.62) and Scrivner (32.52) took third and fourth, respectively, in the discus, both of which were personal bests. Junior Petra Bethea recorded third place in the triple jump with a bound of 1.5, while Emme took fifth in the long jump at 4.76.

Rutherford and Clawson teamed with redshirt senior Alex Apperson and freshman Jenn Strosnider to place fifth in the 1,600 relay at 4:40.86.

William Woods returns to action at the Darrel Gourley Open next Saturday in Liberty.