Thursday, April 11
Azusa, Calif.
6:45 PM
Creighton University
at
Bryan Clay Invitational
Jake Ziebarth
Two Records Fall As Track Battles in California & Kansas
4/13/2024 11:57:00 PM | Men's Cross Country / Track, Women's Cross Country / Track
Ryan Montera and Jake Ziebarth set school-records
AZUSA, Calif. and WICHITA, Kan. -- The Creighton outdoor track teams set a pair of school-records and 17 lifetime PR's while competing in a pair of meets over the weekend. Two athletes competed in the prestigious Bryan Clay Invitational hosted by Azusa Pacific in Azusa, Calif., while the majority of the team was in Wichita for the KT Woodman Classic/Shocker Pre-State Challenge.
"A fantastic weekend for the Jays, with multiple school records, #2 marks in school history and a slew of PRs," said head coach Chris Gannon. "The athletes took advantage of our first decent weather all year, lining up with a fantastic block of training.
"Most of the crew ran in Wichita on Friday night, where we saw fantastic performances in nearly every event, highlighted by Ryan's school record in the 10K. Saturday brought tough conditions in Wichita but Nat and Logan were still able to notch some solid marks. And then Jake ran a phenomenal 1,500 meter race at Azusa late Saturday night, in great conditions. Jake went out aggressive with the goal of notching a mark that could result in a NCAA qualifier, and led his section through about 1,200 meters and came through in 3:48.45, shaving a full second off his PR."
Junior Jake Ziebarth and senior Marcos Gonzalez were the lone two Bluejays to head to California. Ziebarth was among 191 competitors in the Open A division of the 1,500 and went on to set a school-record with a time of 3:48.45. Gonzalez placed 80th of 201 runners in the Open C division of the 1,500 in addition to taking 48th in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:12.00. That steeplechase clocking was a season-best and less than six seconds shy of his school-record.
The Creighton men had six Top 10 finishes in Wichita, headed by third-place showings by Tommy Murray (1,500), Blair Ptacek (3,000 meter steeplechase) and Brian Hiltebrand (1:52.53). Each event had at least 25 competitors, with the 1,500 meters featuring a whopping 84 runners spread across five heats. Murray's time of 3:54.18 was more than eight seconds faster than his clocking from a week ago and an outdoor collegiate best for the freshman. Ptacek is now second on CU's best list in the steeplechase. Ptacek's 9:32.24 time was 27 seconds faster than a week ago, while Hiltebrand crossed the finish line in 1:52.53 to improve upon his time last week that was second-fastest in program history.
The additional Bluejay men finishing in the Top 10 were Ryan Montera (6th) in the 10,000 meters, Evan Kraus (8th) in the steeplechase and Ryan Hendrickson (8th) in the 800. Montera's time of 31:15.81 broke John Quigley's previous program record by over three seconds.
Highlighting the eight Top 10 efforts on the women's side was Scarlett Pearlman's runner-up finish in the steeplechase after a time of 11:29.22. Bluejay teammate Katherine Soule finished in fourth place with a time of 11:40.56 in the same race.
Claire Pyne took third of 18 runners in the 10,000 meters, circling the track 25 times to register a 38:16.89 clocking. Morgan Koca was one spot behind in fourth with a time of 38:25.24.
Saige Christen (6th) and Anika Nettekoven (9th) in the 800 joined Siobhan Stoll (8th) and Taylor Rorick (10th) in the 5,000 to cap some of CU's top performances.
Christen, Pyne and Pearlman's marks all rank second-best in program history.
"We will get back to work this week and get some good training, sharpening done, before heading to Drake and Simpson the following week," added Gannon.
Creighton returns to action in two weeks when it heads to Iowa to compete at the Drake Relays (April 25-27) in Des Moines and the Kip Janvrin Invite (April 25-26) in Indianola.
"A fantastic weekend for the Jays, with multiple school records, #2 marks in school history and a slew of PRs," said head coach Chris Gannon. "The athletes took advantage of our first decent weather all year, lining up with a fantastic block of training.
"Most of the crew ran in Wichita on Friday night, where we saw fantastic performances in nearly every event, highlighted by Ryan's school record in the 10K. Saturday brought tough conditions in Wichita but Nat and Logan were still able to notch some solid marks. And then Jake ran a phenomenal 1,500 meter race at Azusa late Saturday night, in great conditions. Jake went out aggressive with the goal of notching a mark that could result in a NCAA qualifier, and led his section through about 1,200 meters and came through in 3:48.45, shaving a full second off his PR."
Junior Jake Ziebarth and senior Marcos Gonzalez were the lone two Bluejays to head to California. Ziebarth was among 191 competitors in the Open A division of the 1,500 and went on to set a school-record with a time of 3:48.45. Gonzalez placed 80th of 201 runners in the Open C division of the 1,500 in addition to taking 48th in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:12.00. That steeplechase clocking was a season-best and less than six seconds shy of his school-record.
The Creighton men had six Top 10 finishes in Wichita, headed by third-place showings by Tommy Murray (1,500), Blair Ptacek (3,000 meter steeplechase) and Brian Hiltebrand (1:52.53). Each event had at least 25 competitors, with the 1,500 meters featuring a whopping 84 runners spread across five heats. Murray's time of 3:54.18 was more than eight seconds faster than his clocking from a week ago and an outdoor collegiate best for the freshman. Ptacek is now second on CU's best list in the steeplechase. Ptacek's 9:32.24 time was 27 seconds faster than a week ago, while Hiltebrand crossed the finish line in 1:52.53 to improve upon his time last week that was second-fastest in program history.
The additional Bluejay men finishing in the Top 10 were Ryan Montera (6th) in the 10,000 meters, Evan Kraus (8th) in the steeplechase and Ryan Hendrickson (8th) in the 800. Montera's time of 31:15.81 broke John Quigley's previous program record by over three seconds.
Highlighting the eight Top 10 efforts on the women's side was Scarlett Pearlman's runner-up finish in the steeplechase after a time of 11:29.22. Bluejay teammate Katherine Soule finished in fourth place with a time of 11:40.56 in the same race.
Claire Pyne took third of 18 runners in the 10,000 meters, circling the track 25 times to register a 38:16.89 clocking. Morgan Koca was one spot behind in fourth with a time of 38:25.24.
Saige Christen (6th) and Anika Nettekoven (9th) in the 800 joined Siobhan Stoll (8th) and Taylor Rorick (10th) in the 5,000 to cap some of CU's top performances.
Christen, Pyne and Pearlman's marks all rank second-best in program history.
"We will get back to work this week and get some good training, sharpening done, before heading to Drake and Simpson the following week," added Gannon.
Creighton returns to action in two weeks when it heads to Iowa to compete at the Drake Relays (April 25-27) in Des Moines and the Kip Janvrin Invite (April 25-26) in Indianola.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Women's Cross Country / Track
/ Men's Cross Country / Track
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