EMPORIA STATE TRACK & FIELD OPENS OUTDOOR SEASON AT HOME

Emporia State?Track & Field at
ESU Spring Twilight
Witten Track/Welch Stadium • Emporia, Kan.
Friday, March 17, 2017 • 1:00 p.m. (Field)/2:00 p.m. (Track)
Live Results  Complete Notes in pdf (includes schedule)
Up Next: ESU Relays • April 1, 2017
Witten Track/Welch Stadium • Emporia, Kan.

GOLDEN ST. PATRICK'S DAY 
Emporia State will open the 2017 outdoor track and field season on the new Golden Oval of Zola Witten Track inside Welch Stadium on St. Patrick's Day. It is the first meet on the new surface that was installed last summer. The new track is the most vibrant of several changes to the nearly 80 year old facility that is the home to Hornet football and track & field. Witten Track is one of three major changes to Welch Stadium over the last 12 months. Since July of 2015 the Shogren Videoboard and new turf on Jones Field have been added to help maintain Welch Stadium's standing as one of the finest NCAA Division II facilities in the nation.

LAST TIME OUT
The men's 4x400m relay team got third place in the final event to propel the Emporia State men to an 18th place finish as a team at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala.
Taysean Goodwin got things started for Emporia State on Saturday with a sixth place finish in the 400m.  He ran 48.12 to earn his first individual All-American honor.
Thomas LaRoche nearly matched him when he ran 1:52.14 to place seventh in the men's 800m and earn his first individual All-American honor.
The foursome of Goodwin, Parker Evans, Luke Stenzel and Duke Tibbs ran together for the first time since December and turned in a 3:11.98 to place third with the second fastest time in Emporia State history.
As a team the Hornets finished tied for 18th and were the third ranked MIAA squad behind Lincoln and Missouri Southern.
Monica Howard competed at the NCAA Championships for the Emporia State women and place 15th in the pentathlon.

THE?COACH
Steven Blocker is in his sixth year as the head coach for the Emporia State track and field programs. He has produced 48 All-Americans and 20 MIAA Champions in his sixth year as head coach after coaching 14 All-Americans, six MIAA Champions and an NCAA Division II National Champion in three years as an assistant for the Hornets.

RANKINGS
The first United States Track & Field/Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) outdoor rankings of 2017 will be posted on March 21. The USTFCCCA system ranks all teams with athletes on the Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS) and are compiled by mathematical formulae based on the national performance list. Regional rankings will be based on the top eight marks in each region, as determined by the cross country regional meets, in an event. 

LAST YEAR'S OUTDOOR SEASON
Emporia State brought home five All-Americans from the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Bradenton, Fla. last May
Duke Tibbs started things for the Hornets with an eighth place finish in the men's open 400m.  He came in with a time of 47.39 to earn his first individual All-American award.
In the final men's event of the meet the 4x400m relay team turned in a time of 3:09.53 to place fifth. Parker Evans again led off before handing off to Tibbs for the second leg.  Wyatt Sander ran the third leg and gave the baton to Taysean Goodwin.  Goodwin split 45.98 on the anchor to pull the Hornets into sixth overall to match the team's position at the indoor championships.
Emporia State's Morgan Gilliland advanced to the finals in the women's shot put with a personal best mark of  47-06.50 (14.49m) in the prelims. She was in second place after the first flight before finishing ninth overall and just missing out on All-American honors by one spot.
Morgan Brant was the other competitor for the Emporia State women in Bradenton.  She cleared 5-07.75 (1.67m) to place in a tie for 11th in the women's high jump.
The men's team finished in 41st place overall and were the fifth highest scoring MIAA team at the Championships.  It is the 22nd time in the last 24 years that the Hornet men have scored at the national outdoor meet.

UP NEXT
Emporia State is not scheduled to compete again until the ESU Relays on Saturday, April 1 at Witten Track in Welch Stadium. There will be an alumni dinner on Friday, March 31.