CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Parkside men's and women's track and field teams opened their outdoor season Saturday at the Joey Haines Invite in Cape Girardeau, Mo. Despite being hired in the fall of 2019, it is the first outdoor meet for head coach Nick Maas with Parkside.
 
The Parkside men stood out with two top-five finishes in the 5000-meter run. Freshman Johnathan Nowacki placed third with a time of 15:53.20, followed by freshman Grady Davis who placed fifth with a time of 16:01.08.
 
HIGHLIGHTS
Men's

• Freshman Daksh Aura placed fifth in the pole vault with a mark of 4.15-meters.
• Redshirt-senior Brock Eves placed sixth in the 1500-meter dash with a time of 3:54.31.
• Jacob Pigeon finished fourth in the 400-meter with a time of 49.26.
• Pigeon also finished seventh in the 200-meter with a time of 22.20.
• Sophomore Thomas Doherty placed eighth in the high jump with a measure of 1.85-meters.
• Senior Justin Steward finished eighth in the 100-meter with a 10.96.
• A team of Pigeon, Uriah Aili, Sean Masterson, and Steward finished fourth in the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 3:25.35.

Women's

• Redshirt-senior Amanda Johnson finished seventh in the 1500-meter with a time of 4:45.86.
• Freshman Alaura Busch placed eighth in the high jump with a measure of 1.60-meters.
• Freshman Amber Tomazevic placed eighth in the pole vault with a measure of 3.20-meters.
• Freshman Lexy Sams placed ninth in the 5000-meter run with a time of 19:31.35

Click HERE to see full results.

HEAR FROM COACH MAAS
"I am thrilled to be able to coach my first outdoor track meet for the Rangers," Maas said. "We showed a lot of heart competing, but are still learning to manage the sun and the wind. Which might sound simple, but a full day out in the sun can really effect performances."
 
"We had notable races from Brock Eves and Thomas Diamond, with two big personal bests", he continued. "Justin Steward also had a solid day in the sprints. Amanda Johnson, Alaura Busch Janay Brown all had great days in multiple events as well. We continue to see great team support and selfless acts from people helping with stretching or lifting up down teammates. All of that will provide our team culture with foundation built on each other for many years. On to the next battle."
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers will continue their outdoor season next weekend at the Hillsdale Invitational, and the Al Owens Classic on April 16-17.