Skipper, Walker Lead Beavers at Region VI Indoors

 
Pratt Community College Track and Field team travelled to Manhattan Feb., 19, for the Region VI/KJCCC Championships. The Beavers were short on numbers, only competing with nine team members. That didn’t stop Pratt from showing up with some quality performances on the day.
 
Leading the way for the Pratt men were freshman Artrail Skipper and Jared Walker. Walker started the day off for the Beavers in the 60m dash. The freshman from Dayton, Ohio was ranked 15th going in and came out of nowhere to make the finals and placed seventh in a new personal best time of 6.96. Walker also ran a new indoor personal best in the 200m dash finishing in a time of 22.72.
 
Artrail Skipper, a freshman triple jumper from St. Martinsville, Louisiana finished fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 14.09m. (46’2 ¼ “) The jump was just ¾ “away from the Pratt Community College school record. But what was more impressive was that Skipper was ranked 12th going into the competition and beat some very talented jumpers.
 
Sophomore Andrew Johnson also scored points for the Beavers on the day, placing eighth in the mile with a time of 4:51.13. Overall the Men’s team tied for 12th place with Allen County out of 14 total schools.
 
The women were very short handed with only three girls competing on the day. They were led by freshman Danielle Jones who picked up two personal bests on the day as well as a school record. Her school record is a 10.32m in the weight throw.
 
“We competed well today,” said Cyrus Hall, head coach. “I’d like to bring more kids, but some of our kids just weren’t ready for this type of atmosphere. Jared Walker and Artrail Skipper continue to get better each and every week. And almost every kid that competed today recorded a season or personal best. We are ready for outdoor to start to really see our marks get better.”
 
A select few members of the team will travel to Cowley County on Wed., Feb. 22 for a last chance qualifying meet. Coach Hall is hoping to qualify a couple sprinters and a jumper to the national meet. The rest of the team is off until March 15th when the outdoor season opens at Southwestern College.