Track & Field

Outdoor Track & Field Weekly Honors (5-4)

This week's MVC outdoor track athletes of the week are Isaac Basten of Drake, Iaunia Pointer of Southern Illinois, Darius King of UNI and Melissa Parrella of Loyola.
 

Male Track -

Isaac Basten, So. (Buffalo, MN) Drake 

Isaac Basten delivered one of the most memorable performances by a Drake athlete on Jim Duncan Track to energize the faithful crowd Friday at Drake Stadium. Basten held off Moad Zahafi of Texas Tech in an eagerly anticipated 1,500 showdown, producing the first victory in the event by a Drake male athlete since 1981, edging the Moroccan challenger by a 3:39.11 to 3:39.59 margin. Zahafi entered the meet as the world leader in the 800 at 1:43.69, but Basten closed in 56.47 in comparison to the Texas Tech standout running the final 400 in 57.39. He moved into No. 19 in the nation with that run 


Honorable Mention: Jhivon Wilson (Indiana State), Isaiah Trousil (UNI), Jack Slaughter (Loyola), Cole Maguire (Illinois State), Nehemiah Ray (Valparaiso)

Female Track -

Iaunia Pointer, SO., Southern Illinois   

Iaunia was a two-time winner this past weekend at the Clark Wood Invitational at Louisville She won the 200m dash on Friday with a new personal best time of 23.44.  That time is the third fastest time in SIU history and currently ranks first in the MVC for the outdoor season. On Saturday she won the 100m dash with a time of 11.41 (w/3.1).  That time also leads the MVC for that event.   


Honorable Mention: Katie Nimrod (UNI), Jocelyn Quiles (Indiana State), Petra Cokaric (Loyola), Anna Lowry (Evansville), Rachel Hickey (Illinois State), Calandra Henry (Missouri State), Grace Aurand (Valparaiso)

Male Field -

Darius King, Gr., Moline, Illinois (UNI) 

Darius King battled tough weather conditions and the world record holder at the Drake Relays in the elite division of shot put. King took fifth in a shot put field that contained Olympic gold medalist Ryan Crouser. The top three spots in the invitational division went to competitors with top-15 marks in the world: Ryan Crouser, Nick Ponzio and Payton Otterdahl. He threw 19.19 meters (62 feet, 11.5 inches) and continues to lead the conference with a mark that ranks sixth in the nation. 


Honorable Mention: Elijah Williams (Illinois State), Elias Foor (Indiana State), Alek Trafton (Valparaiso)

Female Field - 

Melissa Parrella, So., Graz, Austria Loyola 

Loyola sophomore Melissa Parrella took another step towards securing a berth to the NCAA West Preliminary on Saturday at the Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville, Ky.  On her final attempt of the day, the Graz, Austria product hit on a personal-best leap of 20-01.75 (6.14m), a mark that ranks third all-time in program history, en route to securing a runner-up finish.  Parrella's jump from this past weekend extended her lead atop The Valley leaderboard in the event and moved her up to 32nd in the NCAA West Region. 



Honorable Mention: Brittney Walker (Indiana State), Bri'yanna Robinson (Southern Illinois) Lydia Berns-Schweingruber (UNI), Amni Austin (Illinois State), Jamilah James (Missouri State), Michelle Pierce (Valparaiso)