EMPORIA, Kan. — Despite less than ideal weather conditions, the Iowa Central men’s and women’s track teams left the ESU Relays with more national qualifiers and all-time bests.

Hayden Cobbs and Jerome Jessup in the men’s 100-meter dash, Lee Eppie in the 400, Hannah Connell in the 100 hurdles and the women’s 4×800 relay all secured bids to nationals during the second day of action.

Seven athletes earned Top-10 marks in school history and four more landed spots in the Top-5 in the nation in their respective events.

“We had some great competition from across the Midwest but I think what really motivated some of our athletes was the strong Region XI presence from both Indian Hills and Iowa Western (Saturday),” ICCC’s Dee Brown said. “Seven more athletes rewrote history by making their mark on the all-time Top-10 list in school history. We are definitely looking better outdoors at this point than we did during the indoor season.”

Connell now ranks third in school-history in the hurdles with a time of 13.84, which also places her first in NJCAA. Ashley Micheaux is fifth in the shot put and ranks second (shot put) and fourth (hammer) in the country. She tossed the shot put 47-2.25 and the hammer 151-0.

Odell Frye is seventh on the school’s charts in the 100 and sits third in the nation with a time of 11.61.

Eppie is seventh on the school’s list in the 400, Jessup eighth in the 100 and Cobbs right behind in ninth. Victoria Adu sits 10th in the javelin.

“After our second outdoor meet, our men and women’s teams have a combined 33 national qualifiers,” Iowa Central’s Jordan Burkholder said. “Our students are doing a good job staying focused on their goals for outdoor and continue to improve every week. This is a great start to our outdoor season.”

First place finishes for the Tritons during the two days came courtesy Frye (100), Connell (200, 100 hurdles), Chloe Lenoir (5000), Jaheem Hayles (110 hurdles), Kelvin Bungei (3000 steeplechase), Micheaux (shot put), Adu (hammer) and the women’s 4×800 relay.

In the team standings, the Iowa Central men placed first with 104 points, eight ahead of Indian Hills. The Triton women were third behind only Missouri Southern and Emporia State.

Next action for Iowa Central is at the University of South Dakota.