Maryville, Mo. - The Central Methodist Women's Track & Field program finished third at the Heart of America Indoor Conference Championships this past weekend at Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville.
It marks the fourth straight year the Eagles have earned a podium finish.
The Eagles tallied 154 team points, while MidAmerica Nazarene earned a runner-up finish with 161 points. Benedictine College won the meet with 182.5 points.
Altogether, Central garnered seven individual conference champions.
CMU had several notable performances, highlighted by junior Renee Finke, the highest point scorer of the meet with 28 points. The native of Montgomery City, Missouri won both the pentathlon and the high jump and earned a runner-up finish in the 60m hurdles.
In the pentathlon, Finke tallied both a school and conference record of 3591 points to win the event. She also cleared a height of 1.71 meters in the high jump, a new conference championship record.
For her efforts over the weekend, Finke was named the Heart Women's Indoor Field Athlete of the Meet, the first honor for the program since Kailey Johnson won the award in back-to-back seasons in 2021 and 2022.
Fellow multi competitor Haley Bellamy finished second in the pentathlon with 3480 points, also earning a spot at the national meet. In addition, Bellamy hit a personal best in the high jump with a mark of 1.65 meters to qualify for nationals.
Na'Zariah James won the triple jump with a school record 11.69 meters on her sixth and final attempt. Middle-distance runner Dayana Montenegro defended her crown in the 600m run, winning the event in 1:33.04. She also finished second in both the 200m and 400m.
Senior Delaney Miller posted a second place standing in the high jump with a mark of 1.68 meters, making the high jump a 1-2 finish for the Eagles.
Newcomer Parys Smith placed first in the 60m hurdles with a National Qualifying 'A' standard of 8.87 seconds. It marks the fourth straight year an Eagle has taken first in the event. Senior Kailey Johnson finished in third in the hurdles in a time of 8.91 seconds, making it a 1-2-3 sweep for the Eagles.
Yanira Paninka won the 800m run in a time of 2:20.03, while Baileigh Morris took home first place in the 3,000m racewalk with a school record 15:19.93.
Janiyah Brown earned a runner-up finish in the triple jump with a national qualifying mark of 11.54 meters. Senior thrower Karli Wolfe earned a bronze medal in the weight throw with a toss of 17.11 meters.
The 4x400m relay team of Johnson, Tafaol Mohamed, Paninka, and Carter Hawkins placed third with a time of 4:04.13.
Central will turn its attention to the NAIA Indoor National Championships, set to take place Feb. 29 - March 2 in Brookings, S.D. Altogether, 17 athletes will compete at the championships, including 12 on the women's side.
2024 Heart Indoor Track & Field Honorable Mention All-Conference Breakdown.
1st Place = First Team All-Conference
2nd Place = Second Team All-Conference
3rd Place = Third Team All-Conference
Fourth, fifth, and sixth place = Honorable Mention
To view the full results of the event, please click here.
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