The College of the Ozarks Track and Field teams traveled to Searcy, Arkansas over the weekend to compete in the Harding University Invitational. Wasting no time in the young season, several athletes qualified for the NCCAA Nationals meet coming up in May.

Gavin Fletcher finished in seventh place in the shot put and his distance of 13.81 meters (45’ 3 ¾”) qualified him for the national meet. In the Javelin, Dawson Heppner turned in a 6th place finish and qualified for nationals with a distance of 49.00 meters (160’ 9”). Chase Larimore finished fifth in the pole vault and his height of 4.25 meters (13’ 11 ¼”) qualified him as well. The final qualifier was Tanner Bailey in the 5000-meter run. Tanner finished fifth in the event and qualified with his time of  15:39.61.

Other finishes for the Bobcats included Caden Robertson in 15th place in the 100m with a time of 11.88. Just behind him was teammate Cody Damlo with a time of 12.16 in 16th place. Caden Robertson also finished in 17th place in the 200m with a time of 24.59. In the men’s 400m, Brevin Bales and Devyn Beltran finished in the top 20 with times of 59.82 (18th place) and 1:00.58 (19th place) respectively. Billy Ernst finished in 15th place in the Men’s 1500m with a time of 4:34.86 and Brevin Bales, Ernst, and Beltran finished in 18th, 19th, and 21st, in the Men’s 800m with times of 2:17.14, 2:22.32, and 2:23.23. Maddox Nosari finished in the top 10 (9th place) in the 110m Hurdles with a time of 17:68 and 11th place in the 400m Hurdles with a time of 105.13. Drew Rose turned in a solid performance and came in sixth in the 3000m Steeple Chase with a time of 11:50.04. In the Men’s Long Jump, Caden Robertson added to his strong day with a 5th place finish and a distance of 6.13m (20’ 1 ½”). Along with Heppner in the Javelin, Briar Kellem finished 10th (41.10m), Micah Bermenderfer finished 14th (35.80m), Tucker Moss finished 15th(33.50m), and Drew Rose turned in a 16th place finish (31.70m).

On the women’s side, the Lady Bobcats opened their season with a 28th place finish by Gracen Emerson in the 100m with a time of 14.91 and 18th in the Long Jump with a distance of 3.80m (12’ 5 ¾). Naomi Foskett finished in 16th place in the 800m with a time of 3:06.14 and 19th in the 1500m with a time of 6:01.85. In the Women’s Shot put, three Lady Cats finished in the top 20 with Madelynne Walker turning in a 14th place finish with a distance of 8.90m (29’ 2 ½”), Madison Inman finished in 17th place with a distance of 7.31m (23’ 11 ¾”), and Praise Phillips threw a distance of 6.64m (21’ 9 ½”) to finish in 19th place. In the Discus, the same three Lady Cats finished in the top 15 with Madison Inman finishing in 11th place with a throw of 23.17m (76’ 0”), Praise Phillips in 13th place with a throw of 19.76m (64’ 10”) and Madelynne Walker throwing 17.69m (58’ 0”). Inman also finished in 14th place in the Javelin with a throw of 19.20m (63’ 0”).

The Bobcats and Lady Cats will head to the Baker University Invitational this Saturday, March 25 in Baldwin City, Kansas.