Ball State sophomores Regan Lewis and Peyton Stewart ended their 2017 campaign's at the NCAA East Preliminary Track & Field Championships last week.
Lewis cleared a 1.74m high jump on her third attempt to place 21st among the 48 top high jumpers form the east region on Friday. She entered the meet tied for seventh in the in the field after clearing a career-best height of 1.82m at the 2017 Mid-American Conference Championships, but she did not finish in the top-12 to qualify for nationals.
Stewart finished her season with a time of 11.85 in the 100m dash Thursday, placing her 36th in the field of 48 runners – six spots higher than her original seeding of 42nd for the regional following her time of 11.55 at the MAC Championships. Still, the final time was not enough to place her among the top-24 in the region who qualified for the semifinals in the event, the top 12 of which moved onto national competition.
Before the meet, head Ball State track & field coach Brian Etelman said he didn't know what to expect going into the regional. Lewis and Stewart were, after all, among four of the only Ball State athletes to qualify for the preliminary round since its format changed in 2009 and the first under his two-year reign as head coach.
After seeing this type of success early in the sophomores career's however, Etelman has a different idea of the expectations for the future.
"Moving forward, it's definitely going to be the standard that we're going to need them to keep winning," Etelman said in a previous interview with the Daily News.
While the demand has increased, both Lewis and Stewart echoed the head coaches confidence for what the future holds.
Lewis, who is a three-time MAC Championship high jump medalist – 2017 outdoor gold, 2017 indoor silver and 2016 outdoor bronze – already had nationals as a goal in her mind before the event, while Stewart says this success early in her collegiate career means that "the sky's the limit."
"Just seeing where I can go and dropping as much as I did this season, with seasons to come, it's really exciting and I'm really looking forward to it," Stewart said.
Next year, the Cardinals lose seven seniors, including distance runner Danielle Dahl who finished 10th in the 800m run at the MAC Championships this season.
Returning, however, will be a pair of MAC Championship finals qualifiers Brooke Talhelm (8th, 1500m run) and Bryeana Birdsong (7th, 100m dash) – both freshman.
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