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The student news site of the University of Northern Iowa

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Panthers kick off 2024 season at Hawkeye Invitational

Many+athletes+had+great+performances+as+the+Panthers+officially+kicked+off+their+2024+season.
UNI ATHLETICS
Many athletes had great performances as the Panthers officially kicked off their 2024 season.

The Panthers started action off Friday with throwers. Sarah Byrd finished sixth in the weighted throw for the women with a throw of 16.77 meters. Jorie Hanenburg finished eighth and Katie Fare finished second on the women’s side of shot put with a 12.89 meters, a career best, for Hanenburg and 15.82 meters for Fare. Carson Lienau took second on the men’s side with a 17.62 meters throw and a new career best. Spencer Kessel was right behind in third place with a 17.41 meter throw, Sebastian Swistak with a 16.63 meters career best throw for sixth and David Russell with a 15.93 meters throw for an eighth place finish.

Saturday began the rest of the events. For women’s high jump, Rylie Todd took second with a jump of 1.65 meters. Three more Panthers finished shortly behind with career best jumps. Chloe Largent, Josie Moreland and Soren Maricle finished with 1.65 meter jumps as well. Women’s 400-meter would take place next and Libby Wedewer would take charge for the Panthers finishing in fifth place with a time of 59.44. Ella Santi followed close behind with a seventh place finish with a career best time of 1:03.79. Tinashe Chigudu finished second with a career best time of 49.23 on the men’s side.

In the women’s 600-meter, Sophia Jungling led the Panthers with a time of 1:35.45 for a seventh place finish. Over on the men’s side, two Panthers recorded career bests. Chase Knoche finished third with a time of 1:18.07 and Micaiah Ellis finished eighth with a time of 1:20.30.

The 60-meter hurdles saw Paige Kisley finish with a time of 8.82 for seventh place and Olivia Kramer finish with a time of 8.94 taking eighth. The men’s side consisted of Jack Sumners recording a time of 8.15 seconds for fifth, Hunter Manock with a time of 8.31 seconds for sixth and Carter Accola with a time of 8.55 seconds for a seventh place finish. 

Jill Bennett finished seventh in the 60-meter with a time of 7.73. On the men’s side, Luke Meyers and Jerome Jessup each recorded career bests in the 60-meter as Meyers ran a 6.82 for third place and Jessup a 6.86 for fourth place. Emma Hoins had a career best time of 4:54.46 in the women’s one-mile to take third. 

The Panthers found their groove in the 800-meter with men’s and women’s individual champions. Liza Schaffer had a career best time of 2:18.00 for a first place finish. Kaylin Lacher followed behind in second with a time of 2:21.58. Makenna Edwards took fourth place with a time of 2:35.22, a career best. Jayden Dickson finished with a time of 1:53.93 on the men’s side for a first place finish. Kon Dut followed shortly behind with a time of 1:57.25 for a fourth place finish and Karson Kleve with a time of 1:57.65 for a sixth place finish. 

In the women’s pole vault, the Panthers notched the top three spots with Alivia Silvestri finishing first place with a height of 3.65 meters. Hannah Wallace and Isabelle Cox finishing with career bests of 3.10 meters to take second and third place. On the men’s side, Brendan Safley finished first and claimed the individual title with a height of 5.10 meters. 

The long jump also saw great success for both the men and women. Katy Stephens recorded a career best of 5.58 meters for a third place finish, while Kallie Greiner also recorded a career best of 5.30 meters for a fourth place finish. Maleah Walker finished in fifth place with a jump of 5.29 meters. Zack Butcher took second on the men’s side with a jump of 7.17 meters. Drew Bartels came in right behind, at third, with a jump of 6.83 meters. Sumners then came in at fourth with a jump of 6.71 meters and Brody Lovell shortly behind, in sixth, with a jump of 6.44. In the men’s 200 meter Kaden Emanuel finished fifth with a time of 22.56 seconds and Austin Kunkle finished with a career-best time of 22.70 to place sixth. 

In the women’s 4×400 the team of Wedewer, Auriona Kimbrough, Jungling, and Bennett finished with a time of 3:55.13 for fourth place. Right after them was Joey Perry, Eden Barrett, Darci Wiseman, and Anna Winterrowd with a time of 3:55.30 for a fifth place finish. The men’s team of Zach Butcher,  Meyers,  Knoche and Chigudu finished with a time of 3:17.94 for a second place finish. Lovell, Jessup, Ellis and Emanuel finished with a time of 3:24.44 for fifth place, and Zach Fall, Titus Jackson, Dickson and Dut finished with a time of 3:28.71 for sixth place. Caleb Shumaker finished with a time of 8:37.64 in the men’s 3,000-meter to take fourth place. 

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NICOLE WATERS
NICOLE WATERS, Sports Writer

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