Pole Vaulters shine in Indoor regular season finale at ISU Open

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Indoor Track and Field teams closed out the 2024 Indoor regular season Saturday at the Indiana State University Open in Terre Haute.

VU pole vaulters, sophomore Olegs Kozjakovs and freshman Sophia Armaral stole the show for the Trailblazer teams, with Kozjakovs placing second after clearing a height of 4.81 meters and Armaral taking the top spot on the women’s side with a mark of 4.01 meters.

Sophia’s sister and 2023 Indoor Pole Vault National Champion sophomore Julia Armaral also had a good showing, placing ninth with a best of 3.26 meters.

Kozjakovs wasn’t done there however, competing in the shot put as well and placing 10th with a best throw of 14.23 meters.

The rest of the VU men’s team was highlighted by he sprinters, led by freshman Tumaini Skinner who placed third in the 200 meters with a time of 22.69 seconds.

Sophomore Cohen Gallant took home fourth place in the 60 meter sprint, finishing with a time of 6.92 seconds, while freshman Clinton Laguerre also took home fourth in the 400 meters with a time of 50.77 seconds.

Skinner and Laguerre then teamed up with freshman Olamipo Ladipo and sophomore Desroy Jordan in the 4×400 relay, where the team placed second with a time of 3:46.05.

The men’s distance team also had a few standout performances Saturday, led by freshman Cody Noel (Hebron, Ind.) who placed sixth in the 3000 meters with a time of 9:07.29, just in front of teammate freshman Bryaun Manuel (East St. Louis, Ill.) who placed 12th with a time of 9:55.44.

The Trailblazers flooded the mile race, led by sophomore Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) who placed seventh with a time of 4:25.71.

Freshmen Tanner Spence (Carmi, Ill.), Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) and Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.) also took part in the mile race, with Spence finishing 17th at 4:35.38, Hostetler placing 23rd at 4:44.57 and Whitehead taking 24th at 4:59.33.

Spence then took part in the 800 meter race where he led the Blazers with a 23rd place finish with a time of 2:04.65.

Sophomore Matthew Gray (Washington, Ind.) and freshman Alex Kwizera (Indianapolis, Ind.) rounded out the VU men’s team results with Gray placing 28th at 2:15.06 and Kwizera placing 29th with a time of 2:16.31.

“The pole vault was probably the highlight of the day,” VU Head Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. “Sophia, the top jumper in the NJCAA, broke the meet record by clearing 4.01 meters. That’s two weeks in a row she has cleared over 13 feet and again, took really good shots at 4.12 or 13 feet 6 inches. Olegs claimed the top spot in the NJCAA by clearing 4.81 meters or 15 feet 9 inches and had a good shot at 4.96 meters or 16 feet 3 inches. Not too bad for a decathlete who trains for 10 individual events.”

“We took a shot at a couple more qualifiers but I think we were kind of running on fumes after competing for six straight weeks,” Rogier added. “We try to constantly reinforce with our team that the indoor season is a grind. To train hard and compete every weekend is physically and mentally challenging. Especially with the competition we have faced at every meet.”

“I was pleased with our efforts and I’m hopeful we came away with no new injuries or issues,” Rogier said. “Now we just have to get ready for the National Championships in Gainesville. I’m really looking forward to us competing on the big stage. I’m excited for our program because we have qualified in 14 events. We have athletes ranked number one in three events and four more in the top 10.”

On the women’s side, sophomore Madison Davis was the next best finisher for Vincennes behind Sophia, placing fourth in the shot put with a best throw of 12.09 meters.

Freshman Emilly Barbosa (Sao Paulo, Brazil) led a team of distance runners in the 800 meters, placing ninth overall with a time of 2:27.94.

Freshmen Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.), Jasmyn Self (Casey, Ill.) and Grayson Haynes (Sebree, Ky.) were all close behind, with Fuller taking 11th with a time of 2:32.84, Self placing 13th at 2:39.24 and Haynes ending in 14th at 2:51.83.

Sophomore Gwen Weaver pulled the daily double as well for the Trailblazers, taking 14th in the 60 meter dash at 9.47 seconds and then turning around to place 15th in the 200 meters with a time of 32.37 seconds.

Freshman Zinzile Gumpo rounded out the VU day on the track after placing 15th in the 60 meter hurdles with a final time of 9.84 seconds.

“Overall, it wasn’t a bad meet but it felt a little disappointing coming off last week where everyone ran well,” VU Assistant Track and Field Coach and Distance Coach Tyler Steigenga said. “Tanner, by far, had the best meet out of all the distance runners. He had his best mile ever and came back to run a good 800 on very short rest.”

“The women had some decent season’s bests in the 800 as well, bumping up our 4×800 seed by a few seconds,” Steigenga added. “Looking forward to seeing what we can do for Nationals and hoping we saved our best for the last meet of the season. Everyone will have a weekend to rest up and get in the right mindset for the Championships.”

The ISU Open did have team scoring, a rarity for the VU Indoor Season and the Trailblazers more than held their own, with the men’s team placing third out of seven teams, ahead of NCAA Division I programs University of Southern Indiana and University of Evansville.

The VU women’s team placed seventh as a team, just nine points shy of the University of Southern Indiana.