Track and field teams help honor the legacy of Mark A Phillips

On Saturday, nine teams came to Arkansas City, KS, to participate in the Mark A Phillips Tiger Invite. Honoring the late coach's memory, the Cowley College men's and women's outdoor track and field teams combined for six event wins and five new national qualifiers.

"We had a lot of positive performances," Cowley head coach Cameron Rieth said. "Of course, there are some things we have to work on and adjust, from indoors to outdoors. Overall, it was a good meet to break up some competition rust, see where we are, and make adjustments going forward."

After 18 years in charge of the Cowley College track and field programs and more than 30 plus years of coaching, Mark Phillips retired in 2021. Coach Phillips was inducted into the Tiger Athletic Hall of Fame in 2020 and the NJCAA Cross Country and Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2021.

Among countless notable accomplishments, Phillips coached more than 275 All-Americans, 10 NJCAA national champions, three NJCAA record holders, and one Olympic Festival gold medalist. He sculpted the Cowley program into the well-rounded team it is known for today after many years of dedication to his student-athletes.

Sadly, we lost Coach Phillips to a lengthy illness on April 5, 2022.

"We are honored to have Coach Phillips' storied legacy celebrated through the annual Mark A. Phillips Tiger Invite," Cowley athletic director Jeff Fluty said. "His influence, dedication, and passion for Cowley track and field will endure through this annual event. Mark was more than a coach; he was a mentor and inspiration to us all."

As for the meet participants, the Tiger men's and women's track and field teams each had three event winners. The Tiger men were led by first-place finishes from Miquel Cruz (1,500-meter run), Dagen Geier (110-meter hurdles), and Victor Morfin (high jump). The Lady Tigers received event wins from Mercedes Glover (hammer), Dakota Dapper (pole vault), and Cierra Gray (shot put).

"It was good to see Dakota (Dapper) and Kennedy (Kizarr) pick up where they left off the pole vault during indoor," Rieth said. "Also, Mercedes (Glover) had an excellent hammer series. It was a pretty windy day, so times were not relatively fast for anything 400 meters and above, but when conditions are like that, we want to see our kids competing hard. Anything close to a personal best this early is a very good sign."

The Tiger track and field teams will take a partial squad to compete at the Friends University Multis on Wednesday in Wichita, KS, before taking a larger group to the Pittsburg State University Gorilla Classic on Saturday in Pittsburg, KS.

Results:

WOMEN

*100-meter dash – Grace Knight, 13.03, 13^th.

*200-meter dash – Knight, 26.65, 14^th; Dayanna Brito-Hernandez, 27.25, 16^th.

*400-meter dash – Brito-Hernandez, 1:03.76, second.

*1,500-meter run – Kayli Myers, 5:10.30, fourth; Savannah Fischer, 5:14.23, fifth.

*100-meter hurdles – Makayla Gay, 18.26, sixth.

*High jump – Gay, 4-9, fourth.

*Pole vault – Dakota Dapper, 11-8, first, national qualifier; Kennedy Kizarr, 11-4 ¼, second, national qualifier.

*Shot put – Cierra Gray, 45-6 ¼, first, national qualifier; Amoni Evans, 36-11, seventh; Bree Rowe, 36-4, eighth; Jessi McDowell, 34-11, ninth; Katie Cook, 34-4 ¼, 10^th; Alicyn McGinnis, 30-8 ½, 11^th; Marin Peoples, 27-0, 13^th; Katy Jo Kindt, 21-5 ¼, 14^th.

*Discus – Rowe, 136-10, fifth, national qualifier; McDowell, 118-7, seventh; Cook, 114-4, ninth; Peoples, 95-2, 13^th.

*Hammer – Mercedes Glover, 162-11, first; Brianna Lee, 136-3, sixth; Bree Rowe, 129-11, eighth; Katie Cook, 128-2, ninth; Kindt, 126-9, 10^th; McDowell, 121-9, 12^th; McGinnis, 115-10, 13^th.

*Javelin – Glover, 115-0, second; McGinnis, 103-0, third.

MEN

*100-meter dash – River Harp, 11.21, 18^th.

*200-meter dash – Nahuel Aguerrebehere-Badia, 22.66, 18^th; Ivan Seoane Alonso, 22.96, 23^rd; Joe Lazabarahona, 23.06, 24^th; Dagen Geier, 23.64, 28^th.

*400-meter dash – Lazabarahona, 51.19, sixth.

*1,500-meter run – Miquel Cruz, 4:02.10, first; Esteban Boisseau, 4:03.22, third; Alexis Realland, 4:03.92, fourth; Pedro Balestrini, 4:05.93, fifth; Manuel Leos, 4:18.30, seventh; Kevin Rivas-Guillen, 4:20.38, eighth; Eli Roberts, 4:29.73, ninth; Conner Walker, 4:40.85, 11^th.

*110-meter hurdles – Geier, 15.34, first; Benjamin Long, 29.10, fifth.

*400-meter hurdles – Seoane Alonso, 57.02, second; Aguerrebehere-Badia, 59.98, third.

*High jump – Victor Morfin, 6-7 ½, first, national qualifier; Ranaldo Hanna, 6-5 ½, second; Long, 5-11 ½, seventh.

*Pole vault – Thomas Deviney, 12-10, fourth.

*Shot put – Cooper Leonard, 41-10 ¾, ninth; Jacob Haney, 34-9, 17^th.

*Discus – Sean Zimmer, 119-5, 18^th; Dagen Geier, 99-2, 28^th.

*Hammer – Haney, 156-8, fourth.

*Javelin – Zimmer, 133-8, 13^th.