Men's Track and Field Competes in Lincoln at Prairie Wolf Invite

LINCOLN, Neb. – Doane University men's track & field turned in a strong all-around day at the Prairie Wolf Invite on Friday (Jan. 23) inside the Nebraska-Devaney Center, collecting an event win, multiple runner-up finishes and a deep list of top-eight performances against a field that included Nebraska, Creighton, Wichita State, Dordt, Nebraska Wesleyan, Bellevue and others.

Doane's top highlight came in the men's high jump, where Peyton Herrick won the event by clearing 1.91 meters (6-3.25). The Tigers also made it a podium sweep of sorts, with Bladyn Herrick and Presston Duryea sharing second and third after both cleared 1.86m (6-1.25).

On the track, Connor Bradley delivered a pair of big performances in the sprint group. Bradley placed second in the 60 meters in 7.00 and followed with another runner-up finish in the 200 at 22.43. Doane added more scoring depth in the 200 with Caleb Mulder (23.02), Jaiden Gonzalez (23.39), Lincoln Konrad (23.45) and Jonathan Zoubek (23.47) all inside the top 10.

Zoubek also led the Tigers in the 400 meters, placing third in 51.25, while Konrad added a sixth-place finish in 52.34.

In the middle distances, Doane put multiple athletes into the 600-meter finals, led by Lucas Gautier in 1:25.31 (4th) and Nate O'Brien in 1:25.93 (5th). Dakota Miser (1:29.40), Aiden Bell (1:31.39) and Logan Kleffner (1:39.60) rounded out the Tigers' 600 group.

Doane's best 800-meter finish came from Jordan Kwiatkowski, who clocked 2:03.36, with Austin Wood (2:05.03) and Gregory Cockerill (2:11.45) also competing.

In the 1,000 meters, the Tigers placed a pair in the top four as Michael Grigsby ran 2:33.07 for third and Luke Bonifas followed in 2:34.83 for fourth. Doane continued to show depth with Will Dawes (2:40.69), Logan Brooks (2:40.95), Eli Marez (2:41.65) and Alex Fowler (2:41.81) all finishing in the top 12.

The distance crew delivered one of the meet's best clusters in the 5,000 meters, placing three Tigers in the top four: Alvin Keter was second in 15:05.22, Porter Bickley finished third in 15:05.77, and Jayden Wall took fourth in 15:05.79. Cody Smith added a 13th-place run in 16:21.09.

Doane also posted several standout performances in the hurdles and jumps. Tommy Smith placed second in the 60 hurdles in 8.42, with Andrew Harms right behind in 8.47 (4th) and Bladen Garcia in 8.54 (5th). In the horizontal jumps, Brian Cech won the long jump with a mark of 7.02m (23-0.5), while Asher Watson finished second at 6.66m (21-10.25). Doane added more top-eight finishes with Mason Bahm (6.49m), Michael Willey (6.44m) and Maddox Wagoner (6.32m). In the triple jump, Callan McKinney led the Tigers in second with 13.72m (45-0.25), followed by Zebediah Black (12.10m), Sawyer Tietgen (12.06m) and Logan Metz (11.91m).

In the pole vault, Roe Patton earned second by clearing 4.50m (14-9), with Ashton Pulliam (4.20m) and Edison Knott (4.05m) also recording marks for Doane.

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