GILL, BLUE DRAGON TRACK CONFIDENT HEADING INTO NATIONAL INDOOR MEET
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Wesley Gill's first try at the men's heptathlon was no fluke.
He had been training in multiple events all indoor season, and finally, Hutchinson Community College head track & field coach Robert Spies put him in to compete in the heptathlon at the Region 6 Indoor Championships.
And when pole vault coach Art Hop told Gill he had a chance about halfway through the weekend, Gill went on to make some history.
All he did was win the event and set a new Region 6 record in the points with 5,039 and is one of 25 Blue Dragon athletes and relay teams that will be competing at the NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7 at Washburn University's Snead Indoor Athletic Facility.
Gill won the 60-meter dash, 60-meter hurdles and pole vault. He finished second in the long jump, high jump and 1,000-meter run and came in third in the shot put.
Ask Gill during his senior year of high school – and right before the KSHSAA State Track & Field Championships – if he thought he would end up running college track. He contacted Coach Spies and was welcomed into the program.
And he has gotten better since his arrival to Hutchinson Community College.
"When I first came here, I didn't like the way I ran," Gill said. "I was hunched out and my hamstrings would be tight. (Spies) really helped me with my form at the beginning, which has helped a lot. I don't get nearly as sore or I don't use as much as my hamstrings. It's just helped out so much. That's the main thing, just being able to run and not worry about injury, which is huge.
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE VIDEO OF THE NJCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Having a full semester to prep for the start of the indoor season, Gill started out the season in January finishing ninth in the men's 60-meter hurdles and 22nd in the long jump at the Washburn Rust Buster. He then started getting spread out and doing multiple events difference weekends, competing in the 60-meter hurdles at the Coach Wilson Invite at Wichita State, in the pole vault at the Ichabod Invite at Washburn and then summed it all up with Spies putting him in the heptathlon at the Region 6 championships.
"I felt pretty confident about it," Gill said. "In high school, I ran and did all these other events as well. It wasn't nearly as many at one meet, but I just felt confident about it. I wasn't really too worried about it."
As a senior in high school at Overland Park-Blue Valley, Gill finished third in the Class 6A boys 110-meter hurdles finals, and took fifth in the 6A boys 300-meter hurdles. Now, he'll compete in the weekend-long heptathlon at the NJCAA indoor championships beginning today.
"Going into nationals, after the performance (at Region 6), I feel confident," Gill said. "I just know that I've improved so much that I'm hoping this week will help give me a little more of a boost and get better."
Lucky for the Blue Dragons, they have competed at that facility twice this season and do every year, some considering it a favorable home track advantage.
Below is a list of the Blue Dragon athletics and teams competing this weekend and their events and times:
CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS OF THE NJCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
BLUE DRAGON NATIONAL QUALIFIERS
**=Prelims
Women:
Valentine Titren – Pentathlon, 9 a.m. Friday
Grace Bender – Pole Vault, 11:30 a.m. Friday
Distance Medley Relay, 1:30 p.m. Friday
Mildred Rono – 5,000-meter run 2:30 p.m. Friday; 1-mile run, 2:05 p.m. Saturday; 3,000-meter run, 3:55 p.m. Saturday
Sidney Holt – **60-meter dash, 5 p.m. Friday
Britney-Ann Powell – **60-meter dash, 5 p.m. Friday
Anecia Campbell – **400-meter dash, 5:25 p.m. Friday; **200-meter dash, 6:35 p.m. Friday
Xylavene Beale – Shot put, 6 p.m. Friday; Weight throw, 2 p.m. Saturday
Deisheline Mayer Scott – Shot put, 6 p.m. Friday; Weight throw, 2 p.m. Saturday
Ashara Frater – 1-mile run, 2:05 p.m. Saturday; 3,000-meter run, 3:55 p.m. Saturday
Kimberlin Lovell – 3,000-meter run, 3:55 p.m. Saturday
Men:
Wesley Gill – Heptathlon, 9:15 a.m. Friday
Distance Medley Relay – 1:50 p.m. Friday
Gregory Martinez – Pole Vault, 2 p.m. Friday
Joshua Sweetnam – Shot Put, 2:30 p.m. Friday
Cornelius Kogo – 5,000-meter run, 3:15 p.m. Friday; 3,000-meter run, 4:15 p.m. Saturday
Yassine Sassi – Long Jump, 3:30 p.m. Friday
Miguel Gaisah – Long Jump, 3:30 p.m. Friday
Ricards Peders – **60-meter Hurdles, 4:05 p.m. Friday
Kebba Makalo – **60-meter dash, 5:10 p.m. Friday
Da'Shawn Lester – **400-meter dash, 5:40 p.m. Friday
Jahmari Clifton – High Jump, 6 p.m. Friday
Joshua Muhozi – High Jump, 6 p.m. Friday
Kebba Makalo – **200-meter dash, 6:55 p.m. Friday
Esteban Oses – 1-mile run, 2:20 p.m. Saturday