The Wheeling University Men's and Women's Track and Field team are set to get their penultimate event of the 2025/26 indoor season underway this weekend as they make their way up to Geneva, Ohio, for the Spire Indoor Collegiate Games. Ahead of the MEC Championships starting on February 22nd, the Cardinals will be looking to lock in confidence and consistency to end the season on the highest note.
As has been the story of the season, Magnus Polkner continued to be a bright spark for the Cardinals last time out in Michigan. For the second week in a row, Polkner set a new school record, this time in the 800m. Arguably more impressive than the school record was the sophomore's placing in the event, running a time of 1:54.38 to come 3rd in a field packed with B1G 10 opposition. Polkner brings nothing but excitement each week and will be eyeing up more records this weekend and next to solidify his great season.
Joining Polkner for the journey up to Michigan was Madison Conrad and Hunter Tomich, who are both having great seasons in their own right, setting PRs and School records in the 3000m and 5000m respectively. Conrad ran the mile up in Michigan, setting a time of 5:31.06, whilst Tomich placed his efforts in the 3000m, finishing with a time of 9:28.55.
With only 3 runners sent to Michigan last week, the rest of the Cardinals travelled to Kent, Ohio, for the Doug Raymond Invitational. The first day's shining moment came from Lucinda Banks running in the 5000m. Banks missed out on the podium by only 1, placing 4th with a time of 21:09.80. Kris Vigars wrapped up day 1 on the track, running 24.43 to place 50th in the 200m. In the field events for day 1, Autumn Kerchner got things rolling with a high jump of 1.5m for 51st, whilst Taven Mayo and Marcelin Tote competed in the long jump, placing 25th and 26th with jumps of 5.40m and 5.27m respectively.
The second day in Kent for the Cardinals was highlighted by freshman Jade Trowell running in the 800m. Trowell went up against strong regional competition and ran a time of 2:22.71 to earn 17th place out of 40. Four Cardinals were split between the 400m and 800m, with two running in each. Erick Berroa and Kris Vigars ran the 400m, finishing with times of 52.35 and 53.56 to place 25th and 32nd in that order. Running the 800m was Reddick Moore and Tyler Crook, finishing 43rd and 46th with times of 2:14.00 and 2:16.91 respectively. Rounding out last weeks event were three Cardinals competing in the women's shot put, those being Amber Yoho, Fenne Sienaert, and Autumn Kerchner. The three of them got some positive competitive reps in ahead of this week, with the best throw of 9.31m coming from Sienaert to place 26th.
The Spire Indoor Collegiate Games get started at 10am this Saturday, February 14th, where all Cardinals will be putting their skills to the test in the same place for the first time in a couple weeks, and the last time before the MEC Championships.
