ELSAH, Ill. -- Running in the venue that is set to host the American Midwest Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on Feb. 17, Landon Dunlap highlighted several strong performances by the William Woods University track and field squad in the Principia College Relays Friday.
Dunlap posted an NAIA automatic qualifying time of 4:17.873 in the mile run, punching his return ticket from the 2023 national meet.
"This was a great meet for Landon Dunlap, hitting the A standard to qualify for the national championship for the second year in a row in the mile," William Woods track and field coach Dan Schwab said in a release. "As a team, it was a solid day for several athletes who continue to improve their marks this season."
The Owls brought home gold in a pair of relays on the women's side, with Madison Dixon, Hallee Wengert, Heidi Baranauskas and Saylor Richardson posting a time of 1:53.64 in the 4x200-meter relay, and Kyah Weiritch, Emma Clifford, Myra Baker and Mekayla Gibson earning first in the distance medley relay with a time of 13:52.00.
The men's DMR squad of Ian Schwierjohn, Angel Lottie, Ethan Wilson and Dunlap also claimed gold, with their time of 10:30.12, the second-fastest time in WWU history.
The men's mile was a fierce battle between Dunlap and Missouri Baptist's Donovan Denslow. Denslow got an early lead, with a 0.247-second gap after the first lap. Dunlap responded with faster splits than Denslow over the next four laps, whittling the deficit to .143 seconds. Denslow found a brief response on Lap 6, but Dunlap reclaimed that and then some, heading into the bell lap just 0.053 behind. The Woods senior hit overdrive in the final 200 meters, gapping Denslow by 1.415 seconds at the tape.
Several other races saw the results determined by the thousandths on the afternoon. Madison Dixon edged Julianne Hansen by 0.005 in the women's 60 meters, with Jacob Polacek claiming a place above McKendree's Peyton Vest by 0.004 in the men's 60. Brennen Stinson prevailed on the slimmest edge of the day, with 0.001 separating his 60-meter result from Evangel's Brandon Allen.
Unfortunately, the Owls weren't perfect in the third digit column on the day, as Easton Ambler missed advancement to the finals in the men's 60-meter hurdles by 0.006, with a 9.229-second time to a 9.223 for Webster's Armond Williams.
The Owls return to Illinois this weekend, heading to the Jim Green Invitational hosted by Illinois College.