Cincinnati, OH - The Manchester Women's Indoor Track & Field team turned in a strong performance on Saturday at the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships, finishing second overall at the meet hosted by Mount St. Joseph University.
Manchester delivered multiple championship moments throughout the day, highlighted by a conference title in the Distance Medley Relay. The quartet of Ayla Cashdollar, Jameela Hydre-Yusoff, Raiden Norris, and Chesnee Miller powered their way to first place with a winning time of 13:24.27.
Individually, Miller captured gold in the 3000-meter run with a time of 10:25.52. In the field events, Manchester showed its depth as Katrina Sejour won the weight throw with a mark of 15.83 meters, while Samantha Stetzel claimed first place in the high jump after clearing 1.59 meters.
The Spartans' championship performance was capped by a coaching honor, as Andre White was named Women's Assistant Coach of the Year.
On the men's side, the Manchester Men's Indoor Track & Field team also delivered a strong showing, finishing second overall at the same championship meet.
The day belonged to Gavin Byerly, who put together a dominant distance sweep. Byerly opened his championship with a gold medal in the mile run, winning in 4:22.06. He followed that with his second gold of the day in the 800 meters, crossing the line in 1:56.96. In the final individual event of the meet, Byerly capped a remarkable performance by winning the 3000-meter run in 8:47.87 to secure his third individual conference title of the day.
Manchester also picked up a field event victory as Gentry Oliver claimed first place in the long jump with a winning leap of 6.89 meters.
The men's team success was further recognized with postseason honors, as Oliver was named Men's Jumps Athlete of the Year and Byerly earned Men's Distance Athlete of the Year honors.
With both the men's and women's teams finishing second overall and collecting multiple event titles and awards, Manchester closed the HCAC Indoor Championships with a strong, program-wide showing and momentum heading into the rest of the season.
