Lawrence, Kan. & Salina, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons competed at both the Kansas Relays in Lawrence, Kan. and then the Kansas Wesleyan Coyote Classic this weekend in Salina, Kan.
Aaliyah Ramirez got things off to a rousing start at the Kansas Relays by breaking her own record in the Women's Pole Vault and hitting another NAIA B Standard with a 3.69m mark.
In the 4 X 100 relay, the team of Valeria Crespo, Rhianna Hill, Haidyn Thompson and Tiyna Ridge finished fourth in an event that included multiple NCAA D-I teams and narrowly missed the NAIA B Standard at 47.75.
The Falcons also competed in both the men's and women's 4 X 400 relays at the KU Relays, with the Falcon Men just missing the NAIA B Standard with a mark of 3:17.35 (Daniel Castello, Chad Payne, Spencer Hines, Eddy Rachedi) in a fifth-place finish and the Falcon Women posting a time of 4:04.36 to come in third (Gema del Valle, Naomi Vagher, Fien Molenberg, JaNiya Glass).
At the KWU Classic, Hill (12:46) posted a runner-up finish in the Women's 100 Meter run, while JaNiya Glass (1:00.52) and Naomi Vagher (1:00.77) came in second and third in the 400 Meters.
The Women's 100 Hurdles also saw the Falcons go 2-3 behind Gabriela Millan (15:03) and Irian Padulles (15:36).
That wasn't all for Millan, as she would finish tied for second with Wichita State's Ali Jacobs in the High Jump with a mark of 1.51m.
In the Pole Vault, Brynna Halata (3.00m) finished third and Ashlyn Hubbard (2.70m) came in fourth for the Falcons.
Another nice highlight for Friends was senior Jaaliyah Matthews setting new PR's in both the 100 Meter (13.71) and Long Jump events (5.12).
Sophomore Jada Perez also recorded a new PR in the Triple Jump with a 10.96m result.
For the Falcon Men, Tyson Wallace came through with the 110 Hurdle event title with a PR of 15.18.
Julian Winters had a big meet at the KWU Classic for Friends, hitting a pair of PRs and finishing second in the Hammer Throw (50.27) and third in the Discus (46.04).
The Javelin event featured Gage Lee (54.31m) and Brock Zerger (53.41m) occupying the second and third spots for the Falcons, while Jeremiah Frederick bested his PR in the 200 Meter run at 22.79.
Next up for the Falcon track & field programs is the last meet before the KCAC Outdoor Track & Field championships on May 1-2. Friends will compete at the Zach Kindler Wildcat Open next Saturday (Apr. 26) in Baldwin City, Kan.
