Pittsburg, Kan. - The Central Methodist men's and women's indoor track & field programs opened up competition with two meets in Pittsburg, Kan. Central competed in the Boo Rogers Combined Events Friday followed by the Crimson & Gold Invitational Saturday. 

Freshman Renee Finke competed in the women's heptathlon Friday, and just missed the national qualifying mark. She tallied a 19th place finish in the event with 2859 points, highlighted by a third-place finish in both the high-jump and shot put. Aquila Mucubaquire and Ethan Smith also competed in the multis for CMU. Smith finished the multis with 4348 points, good enough to qualify for nationals. 

Central then took part in the Crimson & Gold Invitational the following day, notching several qualifying marks and new school records. 

Senior thrower Taylor Bottomley broke his own school record in the preliminaries of the weight throw with a final toss of 20.19 meters. He would ultimately win the event and hit the National Qualifying mark for the NAIA National Championships. He would also hit the 'A' standard in the shot put with a final toss of 15.88 meters, good enough to finish sixth. 

Reise Way placed sixth in the men's 60-meter hurdles, running a final time of 8.39 seconds. 

On the women's side, the 4x400-meter relay team of Dayana Montenegro, Kailey Johnson, Jesse Bailey, and Rhakala Blackmon broke the school record with a time of 4:00.52, good enough to finish seventh at the event. Johnson also hit the 'B' standard qualifying mark of the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.06 seconds. 

The Eagles will next compete in the Friends Invitational Saturday, Jan. 8 in Wichita, Kan. 

#TakeFlight