For junior rehabilitation education major Deja Jackson, throwing is a passion unmatched by few others. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

For junior rehabilitation education major Deja Jackson, throwing is a passion unmatched by few others. The Topeka native participates in the hammer and weight throw, javelin and shot put for the ESU track and field team and has already provisionalled for nationals. A graduate of Topeka West High School, Jackson surrounds herself with good company in her throwing companions and uses the strength and inspiration from her grandmother to push her self to her goals.

Q: Since you’re from Topeka, why did you choose to come to Emporia State when you could have attended Washburn?
A: I chose to come to ESU because I wanted to get away from home and Washburn did not have a track program, and my grandmother attended ESU.

Q: What has been the most memorable meet you have participated in?

A: I would have to say the most memorable meet that I participated in was the Texas Arlington Invitational meet last year because I was not expected to make finals, and somehow I ended up throwing a 40-foot personal record in the hammer.

Q: What are the challenges of having a new throwing coach?
A: Trying to build a new coaching relationship was probably the most difficult because as an athlete you get comfortable with what you have, and when you get someone new you kind of want to play the wait and see game.

Q: What are the major differences between high school track and Division II track?

A: The big difference from DII and high school would be that it really does not matter where you place in a meet unless it is conference or another team point meet. Everyone is just trying to get a big mark in DII to hopefully get the chance to go to nationals.

Q: What is your relationship like with your teammates? Are there “cliques” or anything like that between throwers, sprinters, etc.?

A: The throwers are a family, one unit. We naturally surround ourselves with one another, just like the sprinters and jumpers do. When the throwers are in the room you know it. We all react off of each other, and that is a good thing to have in track.

Q: What is your favorite part about throwing?

A: The thing I love about throwing is that it is so unpredictable. There could be someone that comes in with a gigantic mark and does not even come close to it in competition, or someone could have a fairly descent mark and throw a bomb. Another thing I love is that there is a sense of passion in throwing. I can’t explain the feeling when you hit a position, and you just launch it. The true throwers know exactly what I am talking about.

Q: How do you expect to do this year?
A: My expectations for this year would be to personal record in all my events and score points in conference.

Q: How do you expect your team to do this year?

A: I expect everyone to give their best every time they go to compete. That is really all you can ask for. I think both the guys and the girls team will surprise some schools in our conference.

Q: What’s the hardest part about being a thrower?

A: The hardest part about being a thrower is having to be so technical. You can be the strongest thrower out there, but without technique it means nothing. A lot of people do not get that until they attempt a throw.

Q: Who have been your biggest influences in your life?

A: The biggest influence in my life would have to be my grandmother. She is one of those people that have fought the odds of having a significant disability and still being successful at the same time. She knows what it means to push yourself to your full potential, and that is really inspiring. She is the reason I am where I am today, and I will never forget it. I really can’t put into words how much she means to me.

Q: What’s it like being a student-athlete at ESU?

A: Being a student-athlete here at ESU is great. You get to do what you love and get an education. Sometimes it is a struggle balancing academics and your sport, but I make it work.

Send article as PDF to

Zola Whiton track is now closed at 6 p.m. and reopens at 7 a.m. Giri Nam/The Bulletin

Due to damage to the Zola Whiton track at Emporia State, the gates are now open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m, Monday through Friday. Athletic Director Kent Weiser said it was impossible to have someone watching the track at all hours to make sure it was being used properly. The regulation was put in place in August.

“We were a little bit lax on it and the gates would be open and sometimes they would be open through the night,” Weisman said. “We’ve had some incidents of vandalism and damage just over the last couple years. It’s not the people that use it right. It’s, unfortunately, some of the things that happen when you don’t have supervision around and you don’t have people around to watch it.”

Dane Cook, a 66-year-old continuing education student, said that without access to the track, people will be forced to run on the street, which he thinks is dangerous. He said running on uneven ground like sidewalk can cause ankle and knee injuries, when crossing the street people are at risk of getting hit and sometimes people throw things at runners on the street.

Cook said he thinks it is unfair to punish everybody for the wrongdoings of a few people. He said it isn’t right that students pay an activity fee and not be able to use the facilities.

“I’m old. I’m 66, but I’ve been to a lot of different schools – some part time, some full time,” Cook said, “and this is the very first school ever that I have been at that I have not been able to use the facilities.”

Graduate student Jen Groves said that she enjoyed using the track at night because there were usually students and other community members there, so her family knew she was safe. She said that using the sidewalk in the dark has its hazards.

“Emporia does not have a reputation for being a bike-friendly city, and many of the neighborhood sidewalks are a mess,” Groves said. “It’s difficult to see those problems after dark, and it’s difficult to be seen by drivers.”

Weiser said students have the option of using the track at the Recreation Center, which is open until 11 p.m.

In 1992, the track was changed from a dirt track into the rubber track that is there today. Weiser said that every 8-10 years, a new layer of rubber has to be put on it, which costs $50,000. He said that keeping the track in good shape is important because ESU hosts track meets like the state-wide Hershey youth meet in the summer.

“It is really one of the finest track facilities in Division 2 in our area, so we are able to attract a lot of national and big track meets,” Weiser said.

Weiser said the reason the hours are between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. is because that is when there are people from the athletic department there to watch it. He said he spoke to police and safety about the issue, but most nights and weekends there is only one officer on duty for the whole campus. Weiser said that maybe in the spring, the hours will be extended.

“We’ll keep looking at the times and make it as most convenient as we can for people that we feel can use it properly,” Weiser said.

Lauren Walbridge/The Bulletin

Send article as PDF to

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.

Send article as PDF to

Tennis: Season closer

The Emporia State men’s and women’s tennis seasons came to a close last Saturday, falling to Truman at the Plaza Tennis Center in Kansas City, Mo. in the MIAA Tournament. The men lost 5-3 in their second straight appearance in the NCAA tournament and the women fell 5-1 in their fourth straight appearance.

The men’s team went 8-8 overall, 1-4 in the MIAA, 1-3 in the region and 3-1 at home.

The women’s team went 9-8 overall, 3-5 in the MIAA, 1-4 in the region and 4-1 at home.

Head Coach John Cayton and his current ESU players will host their fourth annual tennis camp presented by Wilson Racket Sports where players ages 8-18 will participate in a five day camp from June 22-26. Players will be staying in the ESU residence halls overnight and full-day campers will dine in the Lakeview Cafeteria.

Baseball on the road

The Emporia State baseball team went one and three on the road against Missouri Southern, winning the first game 5-2 and losing the last two games 11-12 and 7-11.

In game one, ESU was tied with MSSU 2-2 until the top of the eighth inning when catcher Mike Sharp hit a single to right center field to score two runners. Outfielder Caleb Williamson scored one more run with a fly ball out to right field.

In game two, the Hornets were ahead 11-3 in the seven inning game, until the bottom of the sixth inning when the Lions hit nine runs to take the lead.

Pitcher Diego Soto earned the loss in game two and is now 5-2 on the season.

In game three, ESU was down 11-2 until the top of the ninth inning where they made scored five runs but were unable to complete the comeback.

Pitcher Ben Graham lost his third game of the season, throwing 3.2 innings in game three.

The Hornets are now 39-9 overall and 25-6 in the MIAA and are looking to take the league title.

ESU will host their last regular season match up at home against Southwest Baptist.

Game one of the doubleheader will start at 4 p.m. May 1-2 at Trusler Complex.

Provisional Track Qualifiers

The Emporia State track team had five provisionally qualifying marks at the Sooner Invitational in Norman, Okla.

Connie Philips placed second and provisionally qualified with a 140-7 mark in the women’s javelin. Jaclyn Sill ranked fourth in this season’s Division II charts in the women’s 400m with a time of 55.77.

Sam Williams provisionally qualified individually in the 100m with a time of 10.59 and qualified in the 200m with a time of 21.23. William, Derwin Hall, Josh Schuler and Kenton Lonberger are all qualifiers in the 400m relay.

The Hornets competed yesterday and continue competition today in the MIAA Championships in Maryville, Mo. Brooke Kent, Justine Davenport and Kaylea Goff are performing for the women while Tony Granillo and Cole Davis are performing for the men.

Send article as PDF to

Honeycutt

Sophomore long jumper Josh Honeycutt is ranked first in Division II with a jump of 53 feet.

“It is great to know that you’re number one right now is a great feeling,” Honeycutt said. “I still have to compete in nationals but it I feel good right now.”

But for Honeycutt, competing in track and field is more than just a hobby – it’s tradition.

“My grandfather was one of the fastest men alive,” Honeycutt said. “His name was Charlie Tidwell and he holds records at KU and the 100 meter dash at the KU Relays is named after him… I always wanted to be like him. I wanted to be a sprinter but I found out that jumping is my thing so that’s what I am doing.”

Honeycutt is a 20-year-old sophomore recreation major who is also pursuing a minor in coaching.

“I want to be a track coach if I don’t go into professional track,” Honeycutt said. “I just like to help people out and there are a lot of things I can do with a degree in recreation.”

Honeycutt was born in Iola, Kan. where he also attended and graduated high school. Emporia was a welcome change for Honeycutt.

“Emporia is bigger compared to my hometown,” Honeycutt said. “It was great coming from a smaller town to a slightly bigger one. Emporia is just right.”

When Honeycutt first began competing in track and field events at Iola High School, his athletic career was much different than it is now.

“At first they thought I was going to be a sprinter and they wouldn’t even let me jump,” Honeycutt said. “In my sophomore year I tied the school record in the long jump and went to state… I have a lot of league records, stadium records and school records. When I won state during my junior year it was a crazy experience and it was amazing being number one.”

Despite being heavily recruited by Division I colleges, Honeycutt chose to attend Emporia State.

“Track and field programs do not receive a lot of scholarship money and the Division I schools were not offering me that much to attend their schools,” Honeycutt said. “Emporia State was consistent in recruiting me and that was what made me decide to go here.”

Head coach David Harris said that Honeycutt is one of the most talented jumpers on the team, despite the fact that he is only a sophomore.

“He has brought tremendous talent,” Harris said. “He has made very quick improvements from a high school jumper to a really good national class jumper at the college level… He played two sports in high school to one that starts in September and continues through the entire year. He has adjusted to the bigger workload and he has shown that he can handle it well.”

Honeycutt has also developed a connection with his fellow teammates.

“We are friends off the track,” Honeycutt said. “We all hang out, watch television and go to games and I feel we are family.”

Freshman hurdler Vincent Howze said that Honeycutt often inspires him to succeed.

“It is fun to compete with Josh,” Howze said. “He pushes me to compete even though we are in different events and I look up to him. He inspires me because he went to nationals last year. I learned from what he did last year and he sat me down and talked to me about what I need to do to get better.”

And Howze isn’t the only one of Honeycutt’s teammates that admires his competitive drive.

“He is well liked by everybody and he is a good kid,” Harris said. “He is looked up to by the team for both his achievements and just being a good person on our team and that means a lot to me.”

Send article as PDF to

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

Send article as PDF to

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

Send article as PDF to

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

Send article as PDF to