The WKU track and field squad closed its indoor season with the Music City Challenge this last weekend at Vanderbilt University, where the team made 32 changes to its top-five lists.

The men accounted for 18 of the revisions to the season top-five ranks while the women accounted for the other 14. Head coach Erik Jenkins said he liked the improvement his team made through the last indoor meet.  

“We saw some good things happen this weekend at Vanderbilt,” Jenkins said in a press release. “I was pleased with the continued progress our team has made through this indoor season.”

On the women’s side, the Lady Toppers had strong finishes on the track. Juannae Lewis ran a time of 25.65 seconds in the 200-meter, grabbing a season top-five finish. Ariel Terrell, Aairiona Hayden-Ransom, and Rebecca Cook all had season top-five finishes in the 400-meter.

Savannah Ames got a personal best finish in the 800-meter, finishing with a time of 2 minutes, 15 seconds and 24 tenths of a second.

The Lady Toppers 4×400 relay team got their second-best finish of the season, with a mark of 3:47.96.

Morgan McIntyre continued her pole vaulting dominance. She cleared a 3.79 meter mark for the fourth-best pole vault of the season for WKU.

Adarian Gray and Kira Harmon notched a couple of changes to the season top-five lists in the shot put and weight throw. Gray threw 7.69 meters and Harmon threw 7.53 meters.

Track events were a success for the men’s team as well. Austin Hayes and Will Bush both notched season top-five finishes in the 60-meter dash, running 6.93 and 6.94 respectfully. Hayes also got a personal best and WKU’s second-fastest finish in the 200-meter dash, running a 21.53 clip.

Oliver Alexandre, Charles Shimukowa, and Maor Seged also posted changes to the season top-five list in the 400-meter dash. In the mile run, Julien Cuyeu notched the Hilltoppers best mark of the year, finishing it in 4:20.80.

Jonathan Hayden shot up the record books with a 7.97 finish in the 60-meter hurdles. Not only was it a personal best, it ranks third all-time in the WKU indoor record books.

Both the A and B units for the men’s 4×400 relay set season-best marks. The A unit clocked a 3:08.46 finish, which ranks third all-time in the WKU indoor record books. The B unit ran a 3:15.07, which is their second-best finish of the season.

In the field events, Chard Muhwanga tallied a pair of revisions to the season-best list. He did in in shot put, with a 12.77-meter throw, and in weight throw, with a 13.61-meter throw.

Both Hilltopper squads will travel south yet again this upcoming weekend to Birmingham, Alabama. This match will be of greater importance, as both squads look to place well in the C-USA Indoor Championship. Last year, the men’s team was the runner-up and the women’s team placed fifth.

Sports reporter Alec Jessie can be reached at 502-648-7190 and [email protected]. Follow Alec on Twitter at @Alec_Jessie.