By: Madison Dean
Washburn showed up to compete Saturday, Feb. 13 at the Ichabod Invitational indoor track meet and went home with 22 top-10 finishes, including two first-place finishes.
Virgi Scardanzan placed first in the women’s pole vault with a height of 4.06 meters, making her the first member of the men’s or women’s team to become an automatic qualifier for nationals this season. She also broke the school record.
Conner Last finished first in men’s long jump, jumping 7.30 meters, which made him a provisional qualifier for nationals while breaking the school record. Zac Chandler also earned a provisional mark with a height of 4.88 meters, setting a school record in the pole vault.
The invitational had a scheduled 854 student-athletes set to compete with a total of 72 teams, though not all ended up competing. Coming into this weekend, the Ichabods had eight provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Women’s track and field currently has three provisional qualifiers for the 2021 indoor championships. Rachael Mayberry ranks 11th in pole vault, and Skyler Saunders is 22nd in high jump and Sierra Mortensen ranks 24th in the 5000-meter run.
After the invitational, the men’s team has eight provisional qualifiers including Romain Henry, who ranks eighth in 60 meter hurdles; pole vaulters Chandler, who ranks 10th, and Peyton Lane, who ranks 19th; Last ranks 10th in long jump; Logan Stock ranks 11th and Michael Pearl ranks 16th in the heptathlon; Michael Majors ranks 21st in shot put; and high jumper Tom Haug ranks 20th.
After running the 3000 meter, sophomore distance runner Avery Hoffpauir explained how she prepared for this weekend.
“It’s been a lot of months of hard training, and I’ve been waiting for this opportunity to race,” said Hoffpauir, who finished the 3000 meter run in 29th place with a time of 11:04.60.
With the indoor track and field season wrapping up, many of the student-athletes are setting personal and team goals as the season comes to a close.
Freshman distance runner Stacy Briggs described her personal and team goals for the rest of the season. “I just want to keep going and getting faster as the season goes on. Our team is trying to get faster and work on more specific training to do that,” Briggs said. “It’s all helping us prepare for the outdoor season, too, so this is just the beginning.”
Both the men’s and women’s track and field squads have completed their regular seasons and have the MIAA Indoor Championships to look forward to, which will be hosted at Washburn’s Indoor Athletic Facility Feb. 27 and 28.

Men’s Results
60m – Prelims
Eric Patterson, Jr. – 12th – 7.03 – PR
Wyatt Heiman – 16th – 7.07
Josh Wiltz – 35th – 7.28

200m
Wyatt Heiman – 20th – 22.42 – PR
Josh Wiltz – 48th – 23.23 – PR

400m
Romain Henry – 6th – 48.83 – PR – WU Record

800m
Kael Ecord – 32nd – 2:00.74 – PR
Justin Gnuechtel – 33rd – 2:01.20 – PR

Mile
Gabriel Chinya – 24th – 4:22.30

3000
Collen Mclain – 19th – 8:39.51 – PR
Ethan Thompson – 23rd – 8:57.23 – PR

60m hurdles Preliminaries
Romain Henry – 2nd – 8.21 – NCAA Provisional
Logan Stock – 10th – 8.59
Michael Pearl – 11th – 8.60
Pau Borillo-Febrer – 23rd – 9.01
Dalton White – 31st – 9.45

60m hurdles Finals
Romain Henry – 3rd – 8.21 – NCAA Provisional

4X400m Relay
Josh Wiltz, Dalton White, Pau Borillo-Febrer, Michael Pearl – 15th – 3:34.73

High jump
Tom Haug – 7th – 1.99m (6-06.25)

Pole Vault
Zac Chandler – 2nd – 4.88m (16-00.00) – PR – NCAA Provisional – WU Record
Peyton Lane – 10th – 4.48m (14-08.25)
Cody Ratterman – 13th – 4.18m (13-08.50)

Long jump
Connor Last – 1st – 7.30m (23-11.50) – PR – NCAA Provisional – WU Record
Michael Pearl – 12th – 6.63m (21-09.00)
Nasjon Porter – 13th – 6.57 (21-06.75)
Pau Borillo-Febrer – 18th – 6.33 (20-09.25)
Josh Hopkins – NM
Logan Stock – NM

Triple jump
Nasjon Porter – 10th – 13.60m (44-07.50)

Shot Put
Michael Majors – 11th – 14.93m (48-11.75)
Braden Rose – 12th – 14.81m (48-07.25)
Mitch Miller – 13th – 14.78m (48-06.00) – PR
Sam Stranathan – 13.71m (44-11.75) – PR

Weight throw
Braden Rose – 8th – 17.67m (57-11.75) – PR
Sam Stranathan – 10th – 17.10m (56-01.25) – PR
Michael Majors – 15th – 16.48m (54-01.00) – PR
Mitch Miller – 19th – 15.90m (52-02.00)

Women’s Results
60m – Preliminaries
Mandana Vouillemin – 24th – 8.98
Darian Hillebert – 31st – 8.18

60m hurdles – Preliminaries
Shae Ware – 9th – 9.26
Taylor Grasser – 30th – 10.68 – PR

200m – Preliminaries
Darian Hillebert – 17th – 26.07
Mandana Vouillemin – 22nd – 26.23
Nikki Kraaijeveld – 33rd – 26.77 – PR

Gallery • 4 Photos

Madison Dean

Athletes, media and event personnel braved the bitter temperatures at the Ichabod Invitational Indoor Track Meet, which was Saturday, Feb. 13 at the Indoor Athletic Facility.

400m
Lyndsay Stinson – 11th – 59.86

600y
Chia Okoro – 3rd – 1:28.53
Shae Ware – 7th – 1:31.79 – PR

3000m
Lily Johnson – 10th – 10:09.28 – PR
Verena Vesley – 27th – 10:57.90 – PR
Avery Hoffpauir – 29th – 11:04.60 – PR
Luz Lopez-Gonzalez – 35th – 11:24.95 – PR
Stacy Briggs – 36th – 11:27.56 – PR

5000m
Sierra Mortensen – 5th – 17.23.97 – NCAA Provisional
Kelsie Dent – 16th – 19:34.27 – PR

High Jump
Skyler Saunders – 3rd – 1.67m (5-05.75) – NCAA Provisional

4x400m Relay
Chia Okoro, Nikki Kraaijeveld, Darion Hillebert, Lyndsay Stinson – 4th – 3:59.41

Pole Vault
Virgi Scardanzan – 1st – 4.06m (13-03.75) – PR – NCAA Automatic – WU Record
Rachael Mayberry – 2nd – 3.97m (13-00.25) – NCAA Provisional
Tassilyn Bolin – 7th – 3.52m (11-06.50) – PR
Josie Hickerson – 12th – 3.52m (11-06.50)
Natalie Lanman – NM

Long Jump
Shae Ware – 7th – 5.49m (18-00.25) – PR
Taylor Grasser – 38th – 4.53m (14-10.50)
Kyra Bauer – NM