Lincoln's Orneldo Thomas may have finished second to Central Missouri's Meelis Siimson in the long jump in his quest for a conference title Saturday, but he made his fellow sophomore work for it.
Siimson captured the title in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a leap of 25-5 1/2, tying a 27-year-old meet record in the process.
After Thomas posted a mark of 24-10 1/2 on his second attempt of the second round of jumps, Siimson came up right behind him and unleashed the same distance on the last leap of that round.
Then on his next attempt, Siimson posted the mark that tied the record set by Central Missouri's Danny Holland way back in 1987.
"I feel very good because I'm coming off a hamstring injury and not 100 percent as yet, so to jump 7.58 (meters) today was a very good experience and a good feeling," Thomas said. "I'm OK with the performance."
The native of St. Catherine, Jamaica, said he enjoyed Saturday's environment at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
"The weather was perfect," he said. "I'm used to the warm weather, so it helped me a lot."
The next time he'll compete in the event will be at the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships set for May 22-24 in Allendale, Mich.
"Now I must go back to the drawing board and work toward nationals and be even better," he said.
Also in the event, Lincoln's Stallone Watson took sixth with a mark of 23-6, but injured his leg on his third attempt and had to be helped out of the pit and into the trainer's tent.
It hurt the Blue Tigers in more than one way.
"I'm told he hurt his hamstring," Lincoln coach Victor Thomas said later in the day. "I don't know what it is yet and (Watson) had the fastest qualifying time going into the 110 (high hurdles), so I don't know what that is looking like."
Also in the long jump, Lincoln's Christian Thompson placed 21st with a leap of 17-9 1/2.
Another notable second-place finish came in the women's heptathlon, where Central Missouri's Erin Alewine finished second to teammate Madison Smith. Smith won the event with a total of 5,068 points, while Alewine, the former Jefferson City Lady Jay, had 4,989.
Going into the final event, the 800-meter run, Alewine was in fourth place in the heptathlon. But the senior put up a time of 2:19.61 to win her section, making a furious kick at the end to finish second overall in the event.
"I had to fight back," she said. "(Co-head coach) Kip (Janvrin) told me coming out, "I need you to run a 2:27.' I said, "OK, I can do that.' But once you get in the race, it's hard to not want to win. ... I tried to kick it in and I got her right there at the finish line."
A Central Missouri woman has now won the heptathlon 10 times in the last 11 years. Lincoln's Shakiesha Miller was fifth in the event with 4,756 points, while fellow Blue Tiger Daniele Newman was 12th with 4,207.
Alewine might have been even more pleased with her performance later in the long jump, even though she went straight to it from the heptathlon's 800. That might have factored into her finishing eighth (18-4 1/2).
"Having to come back and long jump right after that, it took a little bit to get my legs back under me," she said. "I've been struggling in the long jump this year and I only had one foul during the entire competition, so that's good for me. The run (in the long jump) came together very nicely for me. I've still got to push off the board to get those jumps out there, but it makes me excited for nationals."
Nickiesha Beaumont led three Lincoln long jumpers by finishing third, as Miller was 10th (18-1) and Jonelle Campbell was 18th (16-9¼). Also, Central Missouri's Jessica Fennewald (Blair Oaks High School) was 21st (16-7).
"I had a good day jumping, the only problem was I wasn't hitting the board," Beaumont said. "I was too far away, that was my downfall. It was a good day for jumping, it wasn't too windy."
Just being able to participate made it a good day for jumping.
"My hamstring started acting up two weeks ago and last week I went to the Drake Relays and couldn't compete," Beaumont said. "Today I was able to jump, so now I know I'm ready for nationals."
While Siimson tied a record, one actually fell Saturday, as the women's 800-meter run mark of 2:09.66 set by Lincoln's Lovan Palmer last year is no more.
Lindenwood's Terah Fullman-Ege broke it with a time of 2:09.47 in prelims, but that was only good enough for second in that heat, as Lincoln's Jhevere Hall was even better at 2:09.05.
And Hall's record only stood as long as the next heat, as Lincoln's Monique Thompson did even better by finishing in 2:08.05.
That was part of a commanding effort by the Lincoln women in prelims, as they advanced 21 runners in six different events. They will have four of the eight finalists in the 100-meter hurdles and the 400-, 100- and 200-meter dashes, two in the 800-meter run and three in the 400-meter hurdles.
"I'm hoping the triple jumpers will come in top form (today)," Thomas said. "The other teams have a lot of throwers in the female shot and the female hammer, plus some female jumps, to come. We don't have anybody in those or the steeplechase. That's where we're going to take a beating, so we have to maximize the sprints. We have to get 20 points in all the sprints and then we'll be OK (in the team race)."
It's a different story on the men's side for Lincoln.
"The guys are doing well, about what I expected," Thomas said. "We should be competitive, be in the top four or five. We don't have the depth to compete for the championship. We don't have anybody in anything from the 1,500 on up."
In other events Saturday, Central Missouri's Daniel McCarty (Blair Oaks High School) finished seventh in the decathlon (6,478 points), Southwest Baptist's Emily Cumpton (Blair Oaks High School) was 13th in the 10,000-meter run (40:49.30) and Central Missouri's Amy Dorge (Blair Oaks High School) was 16th in the discus (126-4).
Lincoln had two competitors in the javelin, as Darran Hunter was 16th (131-5) and Hampton Mason was 17th (119-8). Mason also compete in the discus, finishing 20th (129-7).
MIAA Championship results after Day 2 (Saturday)
WOMEN
Team scores: 1. Central Missouri, 52.5; 2. Pittsburg State, 49; 3. Emporia State, 33; 4. Missouri Southern 24.5; 5. Fort Hays State, 20; 6. Lindenwood, 18; 7. (tie) Lincoln, Nebraska Kearney and Central Oklahoma, 10; 10. Southwest Baptist, 4; 11. Northwest Missouri, 3.
Heptathlon: 1. Madison Smith, Central Missouri, 5,068; 2. Erin Alewine, Central Missouri, 4,989; 3. Emily Dearman, Pittsburg State, 4,898; 4. Kaylee Morgan, Missouri Southern, 4,832; 5. Shakiesha Miller, Lincoln, 4,756; 6. Hannah Churchman, Northwest Missouri, 4,569; 7. Ashlyn Carroll, Central Oklahoma, 4,451; 8. Katie Cassidy, Central Missouri, 4,396.
Long jump: 1. Antqunita Reed, Pittsburg State,20-2 1/2 ; 2. Brittany Reagan, Missouri Southern, 19-6 1/4; 3. Nickiesha Beaumont, Lincoln, 19-4; 4. Peyton Weiss, Emporia State, 19-2; 5. Carmen King, Emporia State, 18-9 3/4; 6. Nikki Wetstein, Emporia State, 18-8 1/2; 7. Anna Eigruber, Fort Hays State, 18-6; 8. Erin Alewine, Central Missouri, 18-4 1/2.
Discus: 1. Brooke Swearingin, Central Missouri, 171-0; 2. Lindsey Blackwell, Lindenwood, 156-8; 3. D'Andria Blow, Pittsburg State, 153-8; 4. Janessa Kobza, Fort Hays State, 148-3; 5. Heavin Warner, Central Missouri, 142-8; 6. Haley Heuer, Central Missouri, 142-2; 7. Danyell Coons, Nebraska Kearney, 140-10; 8. Sarah Talbert, Pittsburg State, 138-3.
Pole vault: 1. Maggie Wilson, Emporia State, 12-2 1/2; 2. Heather Glenn, Pittsburg State, 12-2 1/2 3. Claire Buckman, Lindenwood, 12-2 1/2; 4. Alaina Fairbanks, Emporia State, 11-10 1/2; 5. Staci Wickersham, Southwest Baptist, 11-10 1/2; 6. Alyssa McCarthic, Central Oklahoma, 11-6 1/2; 7. (tie) Sydney Haase, Missouri Southern, and Rachel Mincemeyer, Central Missouri, 11-6 1/2.
Javelin: 1. Madison Wolf, Fort Hays State, 155-1; 2. Mary Riley, Central Missouri, 149-7; 3. Shelby Buster, Emporia State, 138-5; 4. Ashley Bryant, Central Oklahoma, 138-0; 5. Amber Kloster, Pittsburg State, 136-9; 6. Shanise Rice, Pittsburg State, 133-3; 7. Megan Honas, Fort Hays State, 132-2; 8. Tessa Westhoff, Pittsburg State, 131-9.
10,000-meter run: 1. Jessica Macy, Pittsburg State, 36:57.95; 2. Kaitlyn Belisle, Missouri Southern, 37:13.92; 3. Megan Glamann, Central Missouri, 37:24.75; 4. Jordan Bloesser, Nebraska Kearney, 37;47.85; 5. Ann Cherotich, Lindenwood, 37:48.38; 6. Briana Adams, Nebraska Kearney, 37:55.21; 7. Emily Harris, Missouri Southern, 38:06.99; 8. Ramsey McCarter, Fort Hays State, 38:18.14.
MEN
Team scores: 1. Central Missouri, 36; 2. Pittsburg State, 35; 3. Nebraska Kearney, 25; 4. Emporia State, 21; 5. Missouri Southern, 20; 6. Southwest Baptist, 19; 7. Northwest Missouri, 14; 8. Lincoln, 11; 9. Lindenwood, 10; 10. Fort Hays State, 4.
Discus: 1. Bryan Kertz, Lindenwood, 177-0; 2. John Petroff, Northwest Misouri, 174-2; 3. Bo Farrow, Pittsburg State, 170-2; 4. Cody Holland, Pittsburg State, 170-2; 5. Nick Klenda, Emporia State, 166-1; 6. Nicklas Polizzi, Missouri Southern, 164-7; 7. Shane Lundquist, Pittsburg State, 163-7; 8. Jacob Mahin, Central Missouri, 154-4.
Long jump: 1. Meelis Siimson, Central Missouri, 25-5 1/2; 2. Orneldo Thomas, Lincoln, 24-10 1/2; 3. Brady Land, Nebraska Kearney, 24-4 1/2; 4. Steven Mann, Pittsburg State, 24-4 1/4; 5. Kyle Utsey, Pittsburg State, 23-10; 6. Stallone Watson, Lincoln, 23-6; 7. Dillon Schrodt, Nebraska Kearney, 23-3 1/2; 8. Tylor Albright, Missouri Southern, 23-2.
Decathlon: 1. Payson Maydew, Emporia State, 7,207; 2. Blake Seitz, Central Missouri, 6,972; 3. Dillon Schrodt, Nebraska Kearney, 6,932; 4. Jeff Piepenbrink, Pittsburg State, 6,726; 5. Logann Hallordan, Northwest Missouri, 6,637; 6. Hassan Ilyas, Central Missouri, 6,504; 7. Daniel McCarty, Central Missouri, 6,478; 8. Bryan Dougherty, Central Missouri, 6,382.
Javelin: 1. Chris Swearingen, Central Missouri, 214-7; 2. Landon Cole, Southwest Baptist, 197-6; 3. Zachary Williams, Missouri Southern, 195-10; 4. Kyle Pfizenmaier, Emporia State, 195-7; 5. John Blazevic, Pittsburg State, 194-9; 6. Adam Farnow, Pittsburg State, 189-4; 7. Alex Linsey, Emporia State, 188-11; 8. Alex Gentges, Pittsburg State, 186-4.
10,000-meter run: 1. Eric Schott, Missouri Southern, 31:05.11; 2. Derek Lee, Southwest Baptist, 31:06.68; 3. Kevin Carder, Nebraska Kearney, 31:31.64; 4. Bryan Hill, Nebraska Kearney, 31:37.93; 5. Jonny Bernasky, Fort Hays State, 31:45.63; 6. Cody Smith, Southwest Baptist, 31;54.75; 7. Drew Keefer, Northwest Missouri, 32:03.41; 8. Ben Barrows, Central Missouri, 32:11.05.