By PJ Recker/UNI Athletics
CHICAGO — Carter Morton put on a pair of gold medal performances on Monday afternoon in the men’s triple and high jump as the UNI men’s track and field team captured its first Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) indoor team championship since 2021 at Gately Park.
Northern Iowa has now won a record 15 MVC indoor team titles on the men’s side, two more than Southern Illinois. Morton was also named the men’s Most Outstanding Athlete, as well as men’s Most Outstanding Field Athlete of the meet.
The UNI women also put on a strong performance, finishing third in the team race behind team champion Indiana State and runner-up Illinois State. Katie Fare dominated the women’s shot put to claim her first individual MVC indoor title with a new school to earn Women’s Most Outstanding Field Athlete honors, while Josie Moreland won the women’s high jump and Hunter Manock the men’s 60-meter hurdles.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Morton posted a 14.75-meter leap in the men’s triple jump, retaking his conference title he previously won in 2023 for his first win of the day. Later in the high jump, he would again show off his abilities with a season-best 2.10-meter jump, becoming UNI’s first MVC men’s high jump champion since Ehi Oamen in 2009.
After finishing as a runner-up last year in the women’s shot put, Katie Fare ascended to the top of the podium with a school record toss of 17.24 meters, breaking Rachel Jansen’s 2007 program record by one and three-quarters of an inch. Breanna Hackman and Jorie Hanenburg also contributed to team points in the shot put with a 14.20-meter toss for fifth place and Hanenburg earning seventh with a 13.77-meter throw. Spencer Kessel meanwhile finished second in the men’s shot put (18.37m), with Sebastian Swistak finishing in third (18.27m) and David Russell in ninth (17.47m).
In the women’s high jump, Moreland, who set a new school record at the Iowa Open late last month, nearly matched her high water mark with a 1.75-meter jump to win her first MVC title and become the Panthers’ first MVC champion in the event since Rachel VanderHolt in 2009. Rylie Todd and Soren Maricle both cleared 1.67 meters to place fourth and fifth respectively, while Katy Stephens finished in eighth (1.67m).
Manock captured his first conference championship in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a winning time of 8.04 seconds, becoming the first Panther since Jack Sumners in 2022 to win the event. Drew Bartels finished in third (8.14) with Carter Accola in eighth (8.28).
After completing the final three events for the heptathlon, Zach Butcher finished second with 5,304 points along with career-best marks in the 60m hurdles (8.34) and 1,000m run (2:50.96). Brody Lovell finished in seventh with a score of 4,855.
Parker Kiewiet led the way for Northern Iowa in the men’s 400-meter final, clocking a new season-best time of 47.12 second for a second-place finish with Zach Fall following in fifth (48.20). Later in the 200-meter dash, Kiewiet again made the podium with a third-place performance in 21.27 seconds. Luke Meyers came in fifth in the men’s 200 meters (21.56) as Jerome Jessup followed in eighth (22.13).
Chase Lauman earned himself a sixth-place finish in the men’s mile (4:16.35), as Emma Hoins placed ninth in the women’s mile (4:58.92). Meanwhile, in the men’s 800 meters, Drake Hanson and Chase Knoche both finished third and fourth respectively in a neck-and-neck finish, with Hanson beating out his UNI teammate by seven one-thousandths of a second at the finish line. Derek Woods set a new career-best time in seventh with a time of 1:52.98.
In the women’s 60-meter final, Eva Van De Mortel recorded a new season-best time as she finished in fifth place (7.78) as Caroline Benfeldt-Soerensen trailed closely behind in sixth (7.71). Meyers meanwhile took sixth in the men’s 60 meters (6.87).
UNI rounded out the afternoon with the team of Fall, Kiewiet, Hanson and Knoche placing second in the men’s 4×400-meter relay in 3:10.64 for a season-best mark, joining first-place Illinois State under the previous conference record time. Carlie Jo Fusco, Maya Williams, Joey Perry and Jersey Jones competed in the women’s relay with a fifth-place finish in 3:46.63.
FINAL MEN’S TEAM STANDINGS
1st – UNI (155.5)
2nd – Indiana State (146)
3rd – Illinois State (130.5)
4th – Bradley (95)
5th – SIU (65.5)
6th – Drake (33)
7th – Belmont (16.5)
8th – UIC (11)
T-9th – Evansville (5)
T-9th – Valparaiso (5)
FINAL WOMEN’S TEAM STANDINGS
1st – Indiana State (123)
2nd – Illinois State (105)
3rd – UNI (82)
4th – Bradley (76)
5th – Murray State (75.5)
6th – Belmont (71.5)
7th – Drake (50)
8th – SIU (36)
9th – Missouri State (35)
10th – UIC (9)
SPECIALTY AWARD WINNERS
Men’s Most Valuable Athlete: Carter Morton (UNI)
Women’s Most Valuable Athlete: Lindsey Miller (Illinois State)
Men’s Most Outstanding Track Athlete: Casey Hood Jr. (Indiana State)
Women’s Most Outstanding Track Athlete: Kayla Bell (Murray State)
Men’s Most Outstanding Field Athlete: Carter Morton (UNI)
Women’s Most Outstanding Field Athlete: Katie Fare (UNI)
Men’s Freshman of the Year: Andre Jackson II (Southern Illinois)
Women’s Freshman of the Year: Jahnel Bowman (Indiana State)
Men’s Elite 18 Award: Will Staggs (Indiana State)
Women’s Elite 18 Award: Emma Gresham (Indiana State)
UP NEXT
The Panthers will await the announcement of potential NCAA Indoor Championship qualifiers, set to be released on Tuesday.
To qualify for the 2025 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, set to be held in Virginia Beach, Va. from March 14-15, athletes must rank in the top-16 nationally in an individual event or top-12 in the nation in a relay.