Five Eagles Haul in PRs at Hendrix
Athletes across discplines picked up personal records, including first-ever event showings from freshmen Jakson Suit, Logan Bouzek and Madilyn Guy
CONWAY, Ark. - Five NWACC Men's and Women's Track and Field athletes set personal records Friday and Saturday at the season-opening Hendrix Open in Conway, Ark.
Freshman sprinter Jakson Suit and freshman thrower Madilyn Guy each set marks in their first career attempts in their respective events; Suit participated in his first three track and field events and Guy competed in shot put for the first time.
Freshman Logan Bouzek (triple jump, 13.23 meters), freshman Benjamin Venter (1500-meter run, 4:29.04) and sophomore Marian Hendricks (400-meter run, 1:08.36) were the other three to earn PR numbers on the weekend.
DISTANCE
Sophomore Cindy Soto and freshman Gloria Kurgat kicked off the action Saturday morning with the 5000-meter run running 20:10.11 (12th) and 20:32.12 (18th), respectively. Soto consistently ran in the top 10 before a lap miscalculation forced her to run a final lap after having stopped.
In the following men's 5000 meters, sophomore Kriz Perez paced NWACC with a 16:06.26, good for eighth. Perez never dropped below ninth in the field.
Freshman Benjamin Venter finished 20th (4:29.04) in the men's 1500-meter race, while freshman Kevin Perez's 4:33.40 was good for 25th.
NWACC transfer and Arkansas-Fort Smith junior distance runner Angel Cordero competed in the same section as Venter and Kevin Perez in the 1500, finishing 12th.
Soto and Kurgat joined freshman Talitha Venter in the 800-meter event; Soto's 2:37.83 took 22nd while Kurgat and Talitha Venter finished consecutively in 31st and 32nd as they competed in neighboring lanes in the same section. Kurgat came across in 2:51.96, while Talitha Venter ended up with a 2:57.01.
Benjamin Venter ran alone for NWACC in the men's 800 meters, earning 22nd with a 2:10.42 and finishing fourth in his section.
SPRINTS
The first sprints event of the day came in the form of the men's 4x100-meter relay, which yielded a third-place finish for the Eagles despite a mistimed final handoff. Suit, Bouzek and sophomores Brandon Lindenmuth and Owen Seusy combined for a 44.97 to start the 2026 campaign.
Hendricks and Talitha Venter were 12th (1:08.36) and 13th (1:10.12) in the women's 400-meter run.
On the men's side of the 400, Lindenmuth landed in the top 10 with a 54.61, good for ninth, while Suit snagged a 57.25 in his first-ever competitive go at the event.
Hendricks was also active in the women's 200 meters, finishing with a 24th-place 29.08.
A meet-high five NWACC athletes competed in the men's 200-meter sprint, paced by a 23.96 from Lindenmuth in windy conditions. He came across in 16th, followed by Bouzek (24.16, 19th), sophomore Max Kiser (24.62, 23rd), Seusy (24.63, 24th) and Suit (25.70, 30th).
In the shortest event of the meet, three more Eagles competed for the men's 100-meter dash. Seusy and Bouzek both ran an 11.79 in separate sections and had to be separated by one one-thousandth of a second. Seusy came across a shade ahead to finish 15th, also overcoming a -3.0 wind factor to Bouzek's -1.1; Kiser ran a 12.29 to finish 22nd.
JUMPS
Bouzek's triple jump PR was the only event for NWACC on Friday, setting the tone for a successful weekend.
His second-place finish was the best among Eagles athletes on the weekend; Bouzek was also the only Eagle to win a section outright with his 24.16 200-meter dash.
THROWS
Freshman Omar Medina competed in shot put for the first time as a collegiate athlete, kicking off life at NWACC with a 12th-best distance among 17 participants. His 12.80-meter final throw came after a pair of deep throws negated by fouls.
Guy's collegiate and career debut in discus yielded two marks in three attempts, the better of which was a 19.62-meter effort.
NEXT UP
A week off is next, with the Forest and Lime next seeing the track March 12 at Coffeyville Community College for the Dean Pryor Invitational. Keep up with NWACC Track and Field at NWACCEagles.com or on social media @NWACCxctf.
