For most of the indoor track season, it’s been about the individual and trying to qualify for the National meet. Today, the Emporia State track and field team switches its mindset over to a team mentality for the MIAA Indoor Championships at Central Missouri.
“It’s fun because you finally get to put up a score in a meet,” Kenton Lonberger said. “You kind of get to do it early in the year, but it’s hard to do it. Some teams have more numbers than others. This is one where you actually get to compete and it’s more even.”
The nationally-ranked Hornets are one of the favorites on the men’s side and the women are looking for a top three finish.
Defending champion Central Missouri is the men’s team to beat and has won 11 of the last 13 conference titles, but Emporia State has some of the top marks in several events this season and should be able to compete.
Lonberger is the defending champion in both the 60 meters and 200 meters. He has the third-best time in the 60 meters this season and the second-best in the 200 meters, behind teammate Sam Williams in both events.
“I’ve got a lot of pressure coming in,” Lonberger said. “I won the 60 and the 200 last year, so hopefully I can try to live up to that.”
Both Lonberger and Williams are returning from injury. Lonberger has been nursing a hamstring and Williams dislocated his shoulder when he tried the long jump for the first time ever this year.
Josh Honeycutt has the best mark in the triple jump in the MIAA and is also going to compete in the long jump this weekend.
“I know I have a great chance in triple — I’m first there — but I want to come out and shock some people and win long,” Honeycutt said. “I know I haven’t done well this year, but I’m really confident in myself.”
Craig Saalfeld has the best mark in the high jump this year in the conference, and he has his sights on winning a second event as well. The heptathlon will make its MIAA Championships debut, and Saalfeld has the fourth-best score in the conference in the new event this year.
“I’m going in looking for a win, and it’s tough to do good in all seven events, but I’d like to improve in all my events,” Saalfeld said.
Freshman Katie Mona has been the ESU women’s best performer this season and is the only ESU woman who will enter the weekend as the favorite.
Mona has the best time in the mile, and also has helped the distance medley team get the best time this year. Mona will also run the 800 meters.
“I’m running a lot of events, which I’m not used to, so I’m really nervous,” she said.
For the women to achieve their goal and finish in the top three, they will need a good performance out of Brooke Kent, who is competing in the high jump, long jump, 200 meters and 60 meters. Kent has the third-best mark in the long jump this year.
The favorite on the women’s side is defending champion Missouri Southern, and Nebraska-Omaha is also expected to compete for the title in its first year at the conference meet.
“We have a pretty good chance, but everybody’s got to perform better than they have this season,” Kent said. “It’s a really tough goal, especially since Nebraska-Omaha is in our conference now, but other than that, we always have a chance.”