TOPEKA, Kan. – The No. 8-ranked Washburn Ichabod men's track and field team opened the first day of the Washburn Open at the Sneed Indoor Athletic Facility with a full slate of action across the sprints, distance events, field events and the opening half of the heptathlon, highlighted by record-breaking performances and multiple athletes advancing through championship rounds.

In the 60 meters, Tayveon Simms led the Ichabods by finishing sixth overall while posting an NCAA provisional mark to advance to the Saturday semifinals. Ja'Laveyn January also moved on, placing 31st in a deep field. Peyton Holmes, Javier Lopez and Emeka Ogbonna rounded out the Washburn contingent in the event. Simms later doubled back in the 200 meters, finishing 31st overall with a time of 22.03.

The middle-distance group delivered a major highlight in the 600-yard run, where Jake Muller broke the school record with a time of 1:11.97. Muller's performance eclipsed the previous mark of 1:11.99 and also stood as a personal best. Brayden Peek followed with a 28th-place finish, while Samuel Baxter placed 36th.

Washburn's distance runners were strong in the 5,000 meters, as Tommy Roehl finished 14th with a personal-best time of 14:37.91. Shane Mullen also recorded a personal best, placing 16th in 14:42.25, and Lukas Mehl added a 22nd-place finish.

In the field events, Caden Caplinger finished sixth in the open pole vault, clearing 4.45 meters. The triple jump produced one of the most impressive performances of the day as Justin Forde shattered the school record, set a meet record and moved to No. 1 in the NCAA this season with a jump of 15.94 meters. Forde's mark surpassed the previous school record of 15.16 meters and was also a personal best. Ransford Nti added a top-10 finish, placing 10th with a mark of 14.38 meters. In the weight throw, Caden Rhamy placed 24th, while Colin Heatherman recorded a personal best to finish 34th.

After four events, Washburn sits firmly in the mix in the heptathlon. Alex Michiels leads the Ichabods in sixth place with 2,852 points, followed closely by Drew McGilton in seventh with 2,836 points and Judah Bowell in ninth with 2,770 points. McGilton opened the competition with a fourth-place finish in the 60 meters, while Bowell highlighted the long jump with a fifth-place performance and added a third-place finish in the shot put. Tyler Green competed in the opening events before being forced to withdraw.

  
TRIPLE JUMP
WEIGHT THROW