JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - The Owls had two members hit NAIA national qualifying marks and broke a number of school records at the season-opening Illinois College Snow Bird Open on Saturday.
William Woods University placed fourth out of 20 teams with 58 points. Columbia College captured first place with 88 points, Truman State University secured second with 68 and host Illinois College followed in third with 67.
Sophomore Ray Steele notched the second-best shot put throw in school history with a toss of 15.67 meters for the Owls. Steele's best throw of his career earned him first place in the event and enabled him to hit the NAIA's "A" standard.
Junior Denver Horn was the other William Woods competitor to earn qualifying marks as he tied for the top mark in the high jump. Horn's 1.98-meter jump tied the school record and was good enough to qualify for the NAIA "B" standard.
Horn also set the school record in the long jump with his second-place leap of 6.74. Freshman Tyler Carson set a school record for the Owls with his second-place time of 8.74 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.
Junior Henrique Tsugiyama finished sixth in both the 60 (:07.25) and 200 (:23.52) for William Woods.
The Owls' quartet of Tsugiyama, senior Austin Bestgen, sophomore Cole Schlief and freshman Jared Eliuk - a Fulton graduate - came in third in both the 800 (1:35.46) and 1,600 (3:33.75) relays.
Eliuk and Schlief also placed ninth (:52.72) and 10th (:53.49), respectively, in the 400.
Freshman Ben Farrell took ninth in the mile in 4:44.1.
William Woods returns to action at the Principia (Illinois) College Relays on Friday and Saturday.