INDIANAPOLIS – The UIndy indoor track & field teams began the 2022-23 season on Saturday afternoon. Both teams split forces with some student-athletes staying on campus for the UIndy Season Opener in the ARC while others traveled to the Tiger Open hosted by Wittenberg University.
 
UINDY SEASON OPENER
Notable achievements on Saturday for the women included Zoe Pentecost corralling the best mark in the weight throw, Emily Sonderman winning the 400-meter dash, and Sabrina Robison claiming the top position in the pole vault. For the men, Keeton Adams was victorious in the shot put while a quartet of Greyhounds finished second in their respective event.

On her final attempt of the weight throw, Pentecost stepped up and tossed a winning mark of 19.65 meters. Not only did this completely separate her from the rest of the field and earn her a provisional mark, it set a new college indoor personal record for her in the process. The Hounds made their presence known in the event as well with the trio of Emily Bonser, MaKenna Maschino, and Claire Tabbit claimed third, fourth, and fifth, respectively.
 
Sonderman geared up for the 400-meter dash and rolled out her winning sprint of 1:00.86 as she edged the second place competitor by less than a second. Cloey Simon (third) and Olivia Scaggs (eighth) also competed in the race.
 
In the pole vault, Robison cleared 3.83 meters on her final attempt at the height and collected the victory in the event because of it. This earned her a provisional mark while her teammate Mackenzie VanBibber ended with a fourth place spot.
 
Outside of the winning performances above, a handful of other finishing marks headlined action for the women in the ARC. Most notably, the 60-meter hurdles saw a strong UIndy trio of Ailliyah Reese, Lindsey Wormuth, and Emma Neargardner notch second, third, and fifth place finishes, respectively.
 
Adams was the star for UIndy on the men's side after he stepped up in the shot put and tossed a winning mark of 17.04 meters. Along with collecting a provisional mark, this throw by him crushed the competition and nearly broke his indoor personal record, which he came just .06 meters shy of. Behind him, his teammates Dylan Mayhew (third) and Cameron Smith (fourth) all cracked the top-five in the event.
 
Despite Adams being the only winning mark for the men on Saturday, a handful of other Greyhounds stepped up big in the season opener. Notably, four different athletes earned second-place finishes in their respective events. These four included Evan Stonitsch in the 400-meter dash, Patrick McCafferty in the mile, DeAndre Stroud in the 60-meter hurdles (new indoor PR finishing time of 8.82), and Smith in the weight throw (new indoor PR toss of 14.53 meters).

TIGER OPEN
The Hounds collected a pair of top finishes on the men's side at the Tiger Open with Abdelouakil Mustapha winning the 500-meter dash and Devon Whitaker claiming the top time in the one mile run. Although there were no first place finishes for the women, a handful of athletes performed well among the field of competitors.

Abdelouakil stepped up in the 500-meter dash and rolled out the top time of 1:06.47 which beat the runner-up finisher by nearly 10 seconds. 

In a field full of Greyhounds, Whitaker took home the top time in the mile and a new indoor PR at 4:24.76. UIndy also saw the trio of Logan Wong, Dryden Dodson-Thomas (new indoor PR time of 4:31.37), Jaycee Wilburn, and Aaron Trejo (new indoor PR time of 4:36.07) go second, fourth, fifth, and seventh, respectively.

Other notable finishes for the men saw Tom Saint-Juvin collect second in the 800-meter run at 1:54.72 and AJ Goecker notch sixth in the 5,000-meter run at 14:44.70.

Over on the women's side, Melissa Spencer headlined action with her runner-up finish and new indoor PR in the mile at 5:02.57. The Hounds also saw Brianna Lawson notch third at 5:05.50 while two more indoor PRs were logged from Hannah Wells (fifth at 5:15.97) and Lex Brookshire (seventh at 5:29.48).

Other UIndy finishes for the women saw Trinity Gleitz earn seventh in the 800-meter run (2:30.04) while Mariah Davis tallied fourth in the 5,000-meter run with a new indoor PR of 18:08.35 alongside Clare Wigger ending in seventh.

UP NEXT
The Hounds are set to return to action on Friday with the GVSU Holiday Open and then on Saturday with the UIndy Winter Break Meet in the ARC.