On your marks
The Washburn Ichabod men's and women's track teams return to action this Saturday for the Ichabod Invitational after a week off from competition. The event will wrap up a busy weekend at the Washburn Indoor Athletic Facility as Wichita State will host a six-team Division I event Friday morning and Washburn will then host a Junior College meet Friday afternoon.
 
Who is coming
As of Thursday morning, 854 student-athletes were scheduled to compete in the fourth meet in the facility with a total of 1,254 entries covering 72 teams.
 
Year five
The Washburn track and field program is in year No. 5 this season.
 
Quick recaps - at the Washburn Open
WOMEN
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods opened day one of the Washburn Open with a first-place win and two NCAA provisional marks, including the second best pole vault mark in the country this season in NCAA Division II.
Virgi Scardanzan won the pole vault event for the second time in three meets with a personal best and an NCAA provisional mark at 3.98m (13-00.75). It is the second-best mark in the NCAA D2 ranks so far this season. Rachael Mayberry finished third in the pole vault with a mark of 3.68m (12-00.75).
Shae Ware and Taylor Grasser both competed in the pentathlon with Ware finishing sixth overall and Grasser finishing 12th. Ware had three top five finishes in the five events.
Avery Hoffpauir finished ninth in the 5000m run setting a personal best of 19:10.87.
Sierra Mortensen finished fourth in the 3000m with a time of 10:10.76.
Skyler Saunders took sixth in the high jump with a mark of 1.62m (5-03.75).
Lyndsay Stinson was fifth in the 400m in a time of 59.62. Isabella Hohl tied her own school record in the 60m with a time of 7.88 and Mandana Vouillemin was 18th in a time of 7.89.
 
MEN
TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods men's track and field team wrapped up the two-day Washburn open with a pair of individual winners as well as three NCAA provisional marks and two school records.
Logan Stock won the overall heptathlon title with an NCAA provisional 5,057 points. On Saturday he picked up event titles in the high jump on Saturday after winning the long jump on Friday. Michael Pearl also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships with 4,848 points to place fourth overall setting a personal best. Pau Borillo-Febrer was seventh with 4,456 points recording a personal best.
Michael Majors won the shot put with a mark of 16.73m (54-10.75) breaking his own school record set last season at the MIAA Indoor Championships recording a personal best in the process.
Romain Henry recorded another provisional mark in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.13 for an NCAA provisional mark and also broke his own record in the 400m with a time of 48.92 en route to seventh place.
Peyton Lane and Zach Chandler had top 10 finishes in the pole vault with Lane finishing seventh and Chandler finishing 10th.
In the weight throw, Sam Stranathan finished ninth setting a personal best with a mark of 16.24m (53-03.50) and Braden Rose was 10th at 16.15m (53-00.00).
 
NCAA Indoor rankings
Entering the weekend, the Ichabod men's and women's squads have eight provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Virgi Scardanzan is ranked sixth and Rachael Mayberry is ranked 22nd in the pole vault. On the men's side, they have six provisional qualifiers as Roman Henry is seventh in the 60m hurdles, Logan Stock is 10th in the heptathlon and Michael Pearl is 15th in the event. Peyton Lane is 16th pole vault. Michael Majors is 17th in the shot put and Tom Haug is 19th in the high jump.
 
Squad goals
The Ichabod men's 60m hurdles event squad is ranked fifth in the nation and the high jump grouping is sixth and the long jump crew is ranked seventh in the nation. On the women's side, the Ichabod pole vault unit is sixth in the nation and the 60m squad is ranked 17th in the nation.
 
The host with the most
The Washburn Open is the third event in the Washburn Indoor Facility and the third of six scheduled home meets in the new facility. Washburn will be the host of the 2021 MIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships scheduled for Feb. 27-28.
 
Washburn Indoor Athletic Facility events by the numbers
Event                       Teams    Athletes    #Entries
MIAA Rust Buster        12          222            357
WU Kansas Open         71          317            504
Washburn Open           81          769            1218
Ichabod Invitational      72          854            1254
WU Juco Challenge*     18          221            353
WSU Shocker Invite*    11          221            323                      
*WU host site but did not compete
 
Coaching
Cameron Babb has led both the Ichabod track and field teams and cross country teams to steady improvements entering year five of the revamped programs. Between cross country and the track and field programs, Babb has coached 35 all-MIAA selections, 29 all-region picks, 20 All-Americans and 28 NCAA Championship qualifiers.
 
Up Next
The Ichabods will hit the road for the first time at the Nebraska Tune Up prior to Washburn hosting the MIAA Indoor Championships Feb. 27-28 at the Washburn Athletic Indoor Facility.