Breanne Peters and Blakelee Winn captured national championships to headline Pittsburg State performances Thursday on the first day of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Welch Stadium in Emporia, Kan.

In all, the Gorillas had five All-America honors on the first day.

Peters, a freshman, won the pole vault with a clearance of 13 feet, 11.25 inches. With five vaulters still in the competition, Peters was the only one to clear 13-11.25, and that came on her final attempt.

Belle Peters, who is Breanne’s older sister, finished fifth in the pole vault at 13-7.25, and Cannon Booker took sixth at 13-3.50, giving the Gorillas 17 points in the event.

Winn, a senior, won the long jump with a mark of 20 feet, 9.25 inches. She was in second place until popping the big jump on her fifth attempt.

The Gorillas led the women’s team standings with 27 points after the first day. Hillsdale was second with 15.5 points.

In the men’s meet, PSU senior Jack Haukap ended his career with a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw at 222-1. Those five points put PSU in a tie for eighth place in the team standings. Grand Valley State led the way with 29 points.

In the running preliminaries, the Gorillas qualified both 4x400 relay teams as the men were timed in 39.87 seconds and the women 45.33.

Also qualifying for the men were Dylan Sprecker in the 1500 (3:49.00), Ilias Garcia in the 100 (10.58) and Caden Williams in the 400 (46.28).

HEPTATHLON

The Gorillas picked up 12 points with Winn second and Peyton Phillips fifth in the heptathlon, which ended on Friday.

Winn finished the seven events with 5,898 points, trailing winner Esther Conde-Turpin of West Texas A&M with 6,100 points.

Winn trailed Conde-Turpin by 66 points after Thursday’s four events, and she cut the deficit to five points after finishing first in the long jump (20-1) and second in the javelin (146-8).

But in the final event, the 800 meters, Conde-Turpin took second place (2:12.88) while Winn was 12th (2:27.40).

In Thursday’s events, Winn won the shot put (a season-best 44-9) and 200 (23.64), took second in the 100 hurdles (13.81) and was ninth in the high jump.
Phillips stood in seventh place after Thursday’s events, but she climbed two spots by placing fourth in the long jump and third in the javelin. She was 13th in the 800, ending with 5,352 points.

Phillips’ best finish Thursday was fifth in the 100 hurdles. She also took ninth in the high jump, seventh in the shot put and 10th in the 200.

DECATHLON

PSU senior Leo Chauchard finished Thursday’s five events in first place with 3,986 points, good for a 10-point lead over Joel Brown of Walsh.

He took second in the first two events, the 100 meters (10.80) and long jump (23-4.75), and he was third in the shot put (47-2.25), fourth in the 400 (49.31) and 13th in the high jump (5-11.25).

Chauchard got off to a great start in the final five events on Friday as he won the 110 hurdles in 14.59.

Championship Saturday begins with the men’s javelin at noon. The track events are all finals, starting with the 4x100 relay at 3:30 p.m.