Williams

Samuel Williams, junior business management major and member of the ESU track team, was found dead late yesterday afternoon. Williams was thought to be missing and was last seen at 11 a.m. on Sunday at his residence.

Authorities reported in a release that Williams lost control of his motorcycle north of Emporia on K-99 and Lyon County Road 150.  His body was located one tenth of a mile off the roadway.

Williams was an international student from the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) and was 24 years old.

Don Weast, assistant director of media relations, said Williams was an All-American on the Emporia State track team, running the 60-meter, 200-meter and the 4-by-100 meter relay.

“We’re dealing with this individually and as a team,” said David Harris, head track and field coach. “That’s all that I want to say right now. We will be ready to talk in the morning but we need to deal with this as a team right now.”

His teammates had only good things to say about him.

“He was just a great guy,” said Kenton Lonberger, junior communication major and member of the track team. “He was really loyal and had great values. He stood up for what he believed in and that reflected in every aspect of his life. He was always there as a friend and he was a great guy to be around.”

Williams held several records for ESU including a 4-by-100 meter relay record acquired in May at the NCAA Championships. Lonberger is on the record holding team.

“On the wall downstairs, he has a record in the 60; he has a record in 4 by 1,” Lonberger said. “He was one of the most gifted athletes I’ve ever been around and been a teammate with. The guy had more talent than most people dream about.”

Although he had no family who lived in the U.S., Lonberger said that Williams’ teammates more than made up for that.

“It’s like losing a brother,” he said. “We were so close, all of us. It’s really like losing a family member. We’re struggling now but we’re going to overcome this. He was from France so he didn’t have family here. He had family, but not blood.”

A candlelight vigil for Williams will be held at 8 p.m. tonight in Welch Stadium.

———UPDATE———

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Senior Jaclyn Sill competes in the 400 meter dash at the Euler State Farm/ESU Relays April 6 at the Zola Witten Track. Sill finished second with a time of 59:12. Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin

The Emporia State men’s and women’s track teams are preparing for the MIAA Championships this weekend.

Because this is the last conference competition of the season, the seniors aspire to finish their careers on a good note.

“I want to PR (personal record) and put myself out there because I am predicted to score but I am looking to move up and score higher,” said senior distance runner Marcus Summers.

Although senior Jaclyn Sill has taken first in the 400 meter the past two years, she said winning this year won’t be as easy for her.

“This year is going to be more competitive than last year because Nebraska Omaha has two very talented girls,” she said.

Senior javelin thrower Connie Philips also said competition will be tough.

“I have been competing against the same top two women these past couple of years so I know what to expect from them and they know what to expect from me so it should be a good competition,” Philips said.

As leaders of the women’s team, both fifth year seniors said they feel the team members’ ability to work together will help them to succeed.

“We have to set the example for everybody else,” Philips said. “I think they are looking to us to get a little motivation behind everybody.”

On the men’s side, strength in various events will help the team to succeed.

“We have a lot of good sprinters and jumpers to help carry our team but then we also have some younger throwers who can do well and hopefully score some points,” said senior thrower Dustin Loyd.

After success in the indoor season, the men’s team hopes to contend for the championship.

“We are right in the hunt for a championship,” Summers said. “We were close in indoor but there are guys like myself who didn’t run indoor who will add to the points.”

According to Head Coach David Harris, the team has been changing up their training to get ready for competition.

“Our volume of training has gone way down because we are tapering right now,” Harris said. “We are doing high intensity that is close to race and competition pace.”

Harris said he feels the team is prepared for the championships.

“I think the team is ready to go,” he added. “I feel good about our preparation and now it is time to compete for a championship.”

The Hornets’ first day of competition will start this Saturday and will go through Sunday in Joplin, Mo.

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PHOTO BY KELLEN JENKINS

Last Saturday, freshman decathlon runner Tony Granillo placed second and junior Cole Davis placed fourth in Division II for Emporia State in the decathlon as the Hornets took an early lead in the Papa John’s DII Challenge at Welch Stadium.

The Hornets were in first place ahead of Central Missouri by three points after leading one event heading into Saturdays match up.

“Central Missouri is one of our rivals so it is always good to come out and compete against them,” Granillo said. “Yesterday I came in leading by a few couple hundred points. I did pretty well in the hurdles. I was the leading in first seven events then pole vault kind of killed me, and that is what put me behind.”

Davis came into the Saturday’s event with an injured ankle but remained competitive and saw results.

“It was a great competition,” Davis said.  “The highlights for me were that I won the high jump and got second in the javelin I feel good in everything I did.”

The Hornets have 14 total meets this season with two of them in Welch Stadium, the second of which is the match up coming at conference.

“It was our home turf so it feels like we had a little bit more advantage,” Davis said. “So that is always good when you have that on the back of your mind. We were a little weak in the throws today so we are definitely going to have to work on our throws a little bit and a little weak in the pole vault so we know we got to work on those for the next couple weeks before conference.”

The Hornets earned one of the automatic qualifiers and six of the provisional marks, led again by Josh Honeycutt. The indoor national champion won the triple jump with an automatic mark of 50-10 and went 23-06 to provisional and place second in the long jump. Anne Carlson won the women’s heptathlon competing with 4,860 points.

Northwest Missouri’s Emily Churchman finished second and was the top collegiate placer with a provisional qualifying mark of 4,719 points. Heather Miller of St. Cloud State was third with 4,588 points to provisionally qualify and move into eighth place in the national rankings. Jade Lippman of Wayne State Nebraska was the final provisional qualifier, scoring 4,416 to rank 14th nationally.

The Hornets will compete April 16 at Kansas University in the Kansas Relays.

Doug Irby/The Bulletin

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Freshman cross country runner and track and field distance runner Katie Mona helped the indoor track medley relay team set a conference record.

“I wanted to know what time I had finished with,” Mona said. “When coach had told us we got the record that was really exciting and it is neat to be a part of that.”

Track and field head coach David Harris is proud of Mona’s accomplishments.

“She is one of our freshmen that has been really successful this year,” Harris said. “You hope that every freshman can make a contribution like she has.”

Harris said that, despite being a freshman, Mona has taken a position of leadership on the team.

“She is a very talented distance runner,” Harris said. “She pushes herself in practice and she has become a leader.”

Mona is an 18-year-old elementary education major.

“I like to be around children,” Mona said. “I like the creative side of the profession.”

Mona was born in Huston, Texas where she lived for a short time. She moved to Illinois where she lived until the eighth grade, when she moved to Kansas.

“I was younger when we moved around,” Mona said. “It was kind of hard to move from Illinois to Kansas because that was where I had made a lot friends and the place I had grown up.”

Mona said that athletics was not her reason for attending Emporia State.

“I chose to attend Emporia State because of the teaching program,” Mona said. “Sports had nothing to do with my decision.”

Mona said that her greatest achievement is working hard every day.

“Being able to push myself because I know that is hard,” Mona said. “Our coach helps us with that during practice.”

But despite all of her recent accomplishments, Mona remains grounded in the reality that her performance is sometimes a work-in-progress.

“Sometimes I am disappointed with how I performed,” Mona said. “At the end of the indoor season I kept finishing slower and I was getting tired.”

Regardless of her performance from one week to the next, Harris appreciates her contributions to the team as a whole.

“She adds a sense of confidence to the rest of the squad,” Harris said. “She is the anchor of the distance medley team in which she helped set a conference record.”

Mona said that her teammates have helped her be successful at the college level.

“I like my teammates because we have really connected,” Mona said. ““We help each other out.”

But sometimes, the pressure to perform in track and field can become overwhelming, even for the best athletes.

“There is pressure to do better at each meet,” Mona said. “There is always pressure to come out and compete.”

For Mona, a dedicated group of family and friends does a lot to ease any negative aspects of competition.

“My parents are always at all of the meets,” Mona said. “They are very supportive and loving… I am quiet but I am very competitive. I always push myself to do the best I can.”

Matthew Pierce/The Bulletin

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Sophomore Josh Honeycutt triple jumps Saturday afternoon at the Euler State Farm ESU Relays. Honeycutt finished the meet with a jump of 16.39 meters, breaking the previous ESU record and earning the rank of 14th longest triple jump in the world. /PHOTO BY KELLEN JENKINS

Seven athletes on the Emporia State men’s and women’s track teams qualified for nationals in individual championships at the Euler State Farm ESU Relays last Saturday.

Josh Honeycutt, National Champion from the indoor season, beat his own school record in the triple jump and now holds the 14th best mark in the world. He earned two of ESU’s seven event championships.

Honeycutt jumped 16.39 meters on his last triple jump. Junior Alex Pyle went 2.05 meters to win the high jump and freshman Vincent Howze ran 53.29 to win the 400m hurdles.

For the women, Brooke Kent swept the long jump event, jumping 5.43 meters to beat out teammate Brooke Kent. Freshman Katie Mona won the 1500 meter and finished second in the 800 meter. Kent also finished second in the 100 meter and long jump.

Honeycutt was not expecting to jump that mark due so early in the season.

“It is always good to break a school record,” Honeycutt said. “But we are still in training mode and we are not trying to peak yet.”

According to Honeycutt, the type of training is a factor when trying to peak in the season.

“People are still lifting three times a week,” Honeycutt said. “When we get to where we are trying to peak it is only two times a week we are having harder work outs.”

Although track is a sport where individual performance is important, Honeycutt said his team’s overall performance is more important to him than the individual based national competition.

“I care about nationals but I would rather have a team conference title and I know we are very capable of doing that,” Honeycutt said. “(In the indoor season) we got second place by only 11 points with two major people injured.”

Freshman Derwin Hall also set a personal record to place second in the men’s 100 Meter Dash.

“It set a good goal for me,” Hall said. “I ran 10.54 and that was the fastest I have ever run. It takes 10.65 to go to nationals but the wind was a little illegal today so hopefully I can make it to national and help out the team.”

According to Hall, achieving a personal record on the day of competition is difficult.

“You go into the week training your hardest and do what the coach wants you to do and you come out here just hoping for the best,” Hall said. “But sometimes you get your personal record and sometimes you do not. That is just the way track is.”

According to Kent, the women’s team is also making progress.

“We got a couple girls who are getting personal records already in long jump and hurdles,” Kent said. “We have a couple girls out now that are really going to make a difference for conference.”

Although the outdoor season has just started, Kent said she feels her teammates are pulling their own weight.

“I think everybody is doing their part and getting ready for the conference meet,” Kent said. “We have got to start eating right and doing things as a team rather than as individuals.”

Hall said the team needs to focus their goals to fuel themselves for a conference championship.

“We just keep it on our mind that we are trying to make history at Emporia State and we need to just keep training hard and do all the techniques the coaches have us do.”

The Hornets will host the next meet this Thursday and Friday at the Papa John’s D-II Challenge at Witten Track in Welch Stadium.

Doug Irby/The Bulletin

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Thomas Field and the rest on the Trusler Sports Complaex will be shared with the EHS baseball team for the rest of the season. The decision will benefit both ESU and EHS by reducing costs of maintaining their own facilities with their funds alone./PHOTO BY KELLEN JENKINS

The Emporia State athletics department and Emporia High School athletics have recently agreed to share the Trusler Complex.

According to ESU Athletic Director Kent Weiser, both schools have had a history of the cooperative use of each other’s facilities.

“Emporia State and Emporia High have always had a very solid and strong relationship with our athletic programs as far as sharing facilities,” Weiser said.

For several years, EHS has used ESU’s facilities.

“Emporia High School uses Welch Stadium for their football and track meets,” Weiser said. “They were a major part of helping fund the artificial surface on Jones Field.”

Although both schools are cooperative, the use of all facilities is not free for EHS.

“They pay the hard costs like electricity bills and upkeep,” Weiser said. “As far as their use of the Trusler Complex, there are really no extra expenses for ESU because we will have our maintenance staff mow the grass, which they do anyway. Emporia High school is responsible for all of the other field maintenance.”

According to Weiser, Emporia High is responsible for using dry agents on the infield, striping the infield and providing their own bases.

Britton Hart, athletic director for Emporia High, said the use of the facilities will be a great improvement from the school’s previous arrangements.

“It is a great deal for them because it is a much nicer facility than using Whittier Park because it was not as nice for fans or student athletes in comparison to Trusler,” Hart said.

Although both schools have a good rapport with each other, scheduling conflicts will always be an issue.

“The only conflict we have this year is when they have a contest we will only have one field to practice on, which really is not bad because we have a couple batting cages, a couple pitching mounds and a large outfield,” Hart said.

EHS is not the only school that will benefit from these arrangements. According to Weiser, EHS also allows ESU’s tennis team to use their courts.

“The high school has been terrific with letting us use their tennis courts,” Weiser said. “They have got a great tennis complex with 12 courts and when we have dual meets with both men and women it allows us to go to a quality facility and play all the matches at once.”

According to ESU tennis player Andrew Shipp, the larger facility is a necessity when it comes to hosting matches.

“It is mostly for matches where we need more courts than our courts supply,” Shipp said.

Weiser said he feels the alliance is good for the community.

“We share facilities with the city of Emporia, Emporia High School and Emporia State,” Weiser said. “We can each end up with a very nice facility and share rather than each having smaller facilities.”

Doug Irby/The Bulletin

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The Emporia State track and field team competed in their first meet of the outdoor season last Saturday at the UTA-Bobby Lane Invitational in Arlington, Texas.

National champion Josh Honeycutt won the triple jump with a mark of 14.81 meters. Alex Pyle and Connie Philips both placed second for the Hornets. Pyle jumped 2.05 meters in the triple jump and Philips threw the javelin 41.42 meters.

The men’s 400 meter relay team gave the Hornets another second place ranking with a time of 42.10.

“We had quite a few new events,” said Head Coach David Harris. “We ran the steeple chase, 400 hurdles, javelin, discus and the four by one, which are all new events. A lot of those athletes did other events indoor but these are their specialty events so it was good to get them started.”

According to Harris, the team was not able to compete at full speed.

“We left a lot of our key athletes that had injuries from the indoor season at home,” Harris said. “We needed to try and get them rested and rehabilitated and they have not started their outdoor season yet.”

Still struggling from previous injuries, the Hornets did what they could to compensate.

“You can not replace those injured athletes,” Harris said. “But a lot of freshman got compete for the first time.”

Without a full roster, other athletes were given the chance to get some experience.

“We had some freshman in the steeple chase and some freshman run some middle distance events,” Harris said.

In some instances, the Hornets were able to do well with what they had available.

“We took the four by one relay and we did not have Brooke Kent,” Harris said. “We put Lynnsey Nichols on there and we got a chance to run it.”

Aside from injured athletes, the weather was also working against the Hornets.

“The wind was a tough factor,” Harris said. “Some meets this weekend were completely canceled. We went to Texas hoping to get warmer weather. We did not get that but we were hoping to get it.”

The team was supposed to be on the road Saturday but had to wait until Sunday morning to leave due to road conditions.

With the start of a new season, the Hornets get a fresh start as they prepare for future meets.

“We have five weeks until the MIAA Championships and we hope that in that time we can become the type of team that we all know we can be,” Harris said. “We are taking it one week at a time and everything is preparation to get to that MIAA in five weeks.”

According to Harris, the team is excited to compete at home after a long indoor season.

“We have been traveling on the road forever and ever and I think they will all be really excited to compete at home,” Harris said.

The Hornets will host their first home meet of the season at 10 a.m. April 4 at Witten Track in Welch Stadium.

Doug Irby/The Bulletin

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The Emporia State Men’s indoor track team placed 14^th in the nation this past season and second in the MIAA championship.

“We have had some injuries that really hurt us,” Head Coach Dave Harris. “I would say that it probably cost us the championship and we have to get over those injuries and in the indoors in the national championship we finished 14^th in the nation. To be in the top twenty in the nation is always a good achievement.”

One of the injuries came from Craig Saalfeld who was anticipated to help the team to win the MIAA in his competition for High jump and multi eventer but was taken out due to an inury in the second round of play not allowing his score to count.

“Craig was an individual that could have been an All American in two events,” Harris said. “He could have helped us to be in the Top Ten.”

While the Men’s team had two indoor track All American athletes, Sam Williams in the 60 meter dash and Josh Hunika who won first place in the triple jump at the National Championship.

“Josh had not been up until that point an All American,” said Harris. “He really broke through at the national championship.”

Hornets get ready for the outdoor track season with expectations for the men to win the MIAA and for the women to get back into contention for a MIAA title.
“The women have to have our star athletes to perform at a very high level for this team to do well,” said Harris. “We have to get some help on our depth from the young athletes. They have got to provide some depth to get some points towards us moving up in the conference.”

With several injuries still on the roster for both men’s and women’s track and field, the team is expected to run well with out them and hopefully move them back in to competition when healed.

“We have a group of top individuals,” said Harris. “We need them at the time that the other athletes are injured to try to step up and carry the team and there are a number of those athletes.”

The Hornets have 14 meets this season with four of them at home including April competition.

Cristian Echeverria/The Bulletin

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PHOTO BY KELLEN JENKINS

For over 70 years, “Silent Joe” has sung praise to victory and silently sulked to defeat aside the walls of Welch Stadium for Emporia State’s football program and the spectators of Jones Field.

Although the 154-year-old bell got its nickname because of a long losing streak at the end of the Great Depression, the bell is now rung whenever the Hornet football team wins.

“Joe was born (cast) in Troy, New York, of unknown parentage (foundry unknown) in 1855,” according to a 1976 Associated Student Government handbook. “Where he spent the first thirty years of his life is unclear as there is no mention of him in College (Normal School) records before the year 1880.”

The football stadium was not always Joe’s designated home. In fact, the bell was once kept for daily practical use.

“We do know that on June 14 of (1880) that year he took up residence in the new building which replaced the building destroyed by fire in October 1878,” according to the 1976 ASG handbook, which is titled “The Legend of Silent Joe and Other Assorted Tales.”

After being given a place on campus, Joe’s purpose changed as people began discussing the possibility of making him into a victory bell.

“As of June 27, 1918, plans were made to install the bell from the old building atop a concrete pillar inside the running track at the southeast corner of the athletic field, (presently the site of Cram Hall) to be used as a victory bell,” according to the ASG handbook.

Sometimes plans and promises do not ring true, as the allocation of Joe’s new home fell through.

“Joe, who was merely ‘the bell’ in those days, had been stored away and largely ignored since July 1917,” as stated in the student handbook.

Joe was sounded once again 16 years later.

“An article in Alumni News of February, 1938, recommends using this bell as a victory bell to complement the new stadium which was completed in that year,” according to the ASG handbook

With a new stadium, an up and coming football program and the aspirations of loyal fans, Joe was expected to have his work cut out for him.

“Sources indicate that the 1939-40 Hornet football squad was expected to be a “super team,” in fact, one optimist reckoned that the victory bell would be worn out halfway through the season,” according to the student handbook.

But lack of consistent success on the field, time and lack of use had taken its toll on the bell, which circumstantially gave way to the legend.

“The first two games that season saw the Hornets somewhat less than victorious and it was apparently at this time that the students began calling the bell ‘Silent Joe,’” as written in the handbook

The only success the stadium saw was that of “Silent Joe.” As Joe’s popularity grew, so did the publicity.

According to the handbook, “he was even recognized by this name in the Sunflower that year.”

The “Silent” part of the name was obvious, but the origins of where the name “Joe” came from and the reason behind it are unknown to this day.

The article went on to say that some research on this topic suggests that the “Joe” portion of the name could be related to “Joe College” and “Betty Co-ed” but more research would have to be done to confirm this.

The site of the bell is somewhat hidden from view due to the size of the openings atop the tower.  However, according to the Legend of Silent Joe and other assorted tales, the metal hulk is no average Joe, weighing in at 1,400 pounds.

As generations come and go and seasons fade in and out, Joe sits silently in his tower waiting and watching for a Hornet victory. Although teams will be known for being bound for greatness or haunted by mediocrity, Joe’s legend will live on.

Doug Irby/The Bulletin

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For the past few months, the Emporia State men’s and women’s track and field team have been preparing for the MIAA Championships last weekend, the Hornets’ preparations were put to the test at the Hornets’ final competition in the indoor track and field season.

The Hornets competed in a three day competition at the MIAA Championships in Warrensburg, Mo. This was the third time the Hornets had competed in Warrensburg.

“I think going to Missouri prepared the team well,” said Head Coach Dave Harris. “We felt like we have been to this track, been to these field event areas, and that is important.”

The ESU men’s team placed second with a score of 126, losing to the University of Central Missouri by 13, placing them in the finals. The women’s team placed sixth with a score of 59, losing to Pittsburg State by one point.

The first day of competition consisted of the heptathlon, in which the men compete in the 60 meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 60 meter hurdles, pole vault and the 1000 meter dash. The seven competitions use a cumulative score of each athlete to determine winners.

The heptathlon involves two days of competition in which athletes compete in four events the first day and three the second day.

Craid Saalfeld, senior heptathlon runner for the Hornets, competed in the first four events Friday. Saalfeld placed second in the 60 meter dash, second in long jump, sixth in shot put and first in high jump, with an overall first place ranking. Saalfeld is now ranked third in the nation in his event.

“He got the team excited,” Harris said. “He went out there and set a school record that started our team on a good run in this meet.”

The majority of the preliminary events took place Saturday. Alex Pyle, junior jumper for the Hornets, competed in the high jump along with Saalfeld. Pyle took first with a jump of 6 feet 8.75 inches and Saalfeld took second with a jump of 6 feet 8.75 inches also.

Sophomore Kenton Lonberger and junior Matt Koelling both injured themselves during Saturday’s portion of the meet.

Lonberger placed third in the 60 meter dash before injuring himself during the 200 meter dash in which he placed 16^th. Due to his injuries, Lonberger was not able to compete in the 60 meter dash finals.

“I am very proud of my men’s team,” Harris said. “I am disappointed in some injuries that occurred. That took a shot out of the win… there is not much you can do about it though.”

Each year a male and female freshman is awarded Freshman of the Year at the Championships. Katelyn Mona won the women’s award and Vincent Howze won the men’s.

“We gave them everything we could,” Harris said. “The highlight of the weekend was that we came here and people had a good time. I know that no one will ever forget this meet that was involved in it.”

Cody Grauberger/The Bulletin

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The Emporia State men’s and women’s track and field team competed at the Husker Invitational in Lincoln, Neb. and the Mule Relays in Warrensburg, Mo. Feb. 6-7 where seven athletes qualified provisionally for the MIAA championships, two athletes automatically qualified and one athlete set a new school record.

Head Coach David Harris separated the two teams, sending the stronger athletes to the Husker Invitational and athletes that needed improvement to the Mule Relays.

The team that attended the Husker Invitational was comprised mostly of freshmen and sophomores. With such a young team, there is room for a lot of improvement.

“I was really pleased with the challenge to improve for the freshmen,” Harris said. “I think that when we take people to a big meet like that, you just never know how they are going to react. That is the challenge of going to a big meet you kind of sometimes wonder whether the freshmen will be overwhelmed by it.”

Although athletes can be intimidated by new environments and bigger schools, Harris seemed very pleased with the results of the Husker Invitational.

“I think they challenged themselves, and that is what I like to do with them,” Harris said.

Sophomore Josh Honeycutt, freshman Katie Mona and junior Brooke Kent all attended the Husker Invitational and placed in the top ten of their events, which also qualified each of them for the MIAA Championships.

Josh Honeycutt competed in the men’s triple jump and placed fourth with a jump of 50 feet and 1.25 inches. Honeycutt became the second Emporia athlete to jump farther than 50 feet.

“I felt Josh Honeycutt would compete very well, and he did… that is a mark that is going to get him to the national championships,” Harris said.

Katie Mona competed in the women’s one mile run. Mona came in first place in her event with a time of 4:58. Mona also ran anchor for the women’s distance medley relay, helping to place second in that event.

Brooke Kent competed in the women’s 60 meter hurdles, placing 10th in the preliminaries and fourth in the consolations.

Junior Samuel Williams and sophomore Adam McGovern attended the Mule Relays and both placed first in their events, making them automatic qualifiers for the MIAA championships.

Williams competed in the 60 meter and 200 meter dash. Williams placed first in both events, with a time of 6.74 seconds in the 60 meter dash and 21.92 in the 200 meter dash. Williams set a new ESU record in the 60 meter dash and ran the third fastest time in the nation this year.

McGovern competed in the one mile, placing first in his event. Harris said he was very pleased in McGovern’s performance at the mule relays.

“Adam McGovern was (one of) our only first place performances at the mule relay… he has been coming along real well and we won the mile,” Harris said. “That is a good win.”

This is the second time that ESU has competed at Central Missouri, which is where the MIAA championships will be held.

Harris announced he will hold a staff meeting to attempt to regulate the efforts of the team toward the MIAA championships.

“We are going to decide what is best for members of our team to do, some people need to train… and then some people could probably use another competition,” Harris said.

This year, Harris will allow the athletes to take some weekends off from competing to better prepare for the championships.

“We are at a point where we are going to pick and choose where we go with people,” Harris said. “I would say the majority of the team is going to take this next weekend off. We are preparing them for the championship meets. We are not worried about scoring or placing certain places at meets we are trying to prepare them for the championships.”

Although not all track athletes will attend, the ESU track and field team will compete Feb. 13 at the Pittsburg Meet in Pittsburg, Kan.

Cody Grauberger/The Bulletin

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