Kansas City, Mo. - After a stellar showing at the Heart Indoor Track & Field Conference Championships, the Central Methodist Track & Field program garnered three honorees, as Kenny Anderson was named the Heart Women's Indoor Coach of the Year, while freshman Kailey Johnson was named the Women's Co-Athlete of the Meet, and senior Taylor Bottomley the Men's Athlete of the Meet.
Coach Anderson was named the Heart Women's Coach of the Year in his first season at the helm of the program. Anderson led CMU the CMU women to a second place finish at the event, improving on last year's seventh place showing. The Eagles totaled 130.5 points on the weekend after 12 Eagles landed on the podium.
Johnson and Andrea Ertz (Mount Mercy) were tabbed as Women's Co-Athletes of the Meet after a pair of stellar performances. Johnson continues to rewrite the CMU record books, as she broke her own school record in the 60m dash (7.83) and the 60m hurdles (9.05). The Columbia, Mo. native earned top honors in the 60m hurdles, claiming the conference championship, and finished second in the 60m dash. She hit the 'B' standard in both events to qualify for nationals. In addition, Johnson also earned a second place finish in the 200m dash with a time of 26.16 and posted Top-5 finishes in the long jump and the 4x400m relay. Overall, Johnson tallied 39 points through five events.
Bottomley was named the Men's Field Athlete of the Meet after totaling 20 points through two events. He secured 1st place victories in both the weight throw and shot put. He set a new school record and PR in the weight throw at 19.03 meters, ranking No. 3 in the country and earning a trip to the national meet. He also claimed victory in the shot put with a final toss of 16.81 meters, well over a full meter of national qualification standard.
Overall, the men finished the two-day meet 3rd out of 12 teams, while the women placed 2nd. The Eagles will now look to nationals set to take place March 5-6 in Yanton, South Dakota.
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