Broncos riding momentum of indoor season into home invite

When this week ends, Hastings College track and field coach Ryan Mahoney can finally take a breath.

In the meantime, he hopes his athletes enjoy performing on their home track in front of many friends and family.

The Broncos are set to host the Hastings College invite Saturday at the now two-year-old Jack Osborne Track and Field Complex on campus.

As the hosting coach, Mahoney will be delegated to ensuring the experience goes smoothly for all teams, staff, volunteers and patrons.

As if that wasn’t stressful enough, Mahoney also had his sister’s wedding to attend Friday and other tasks to take care of before the fun could even begin.

“Hosting a meet is never your favorite as a coach,” Mahoney joked. “But I’m excited for the kids. I have already heard from quite a few ... who have a bunch of people coming to watch them, and that’s always fun.”

The Broncos are a few weeks into their spring season, following another successful indoor slate which culminated with a pair of All-American finishes — one on each the men’s and women’s side.

HC opened the outdoor season with a meet in St. George, Utah, but won’t leave the state again until NAIA nationals at the end of May.

This will be the second rendition of their own invite in as many years on their still-fresh track. The Broncos ran a “test” meet of sorts last season ahead of taking their turn in hosting the Great Plains Athletic Conference championships.

Last year’s HC invite featured only a couple of teams. This year, it is double the size, which Mahoney said is a positive. Concordia, Midland, Peru State, York and UNK are all attending.

“I think it’s a good size this year,” Mahoney said. “I don’t think we want to get this meet more than maybe another team or two. It adds a little more depth in every area... I think it will be a little nicer this year, and after running conference, I think we’ve got a better feel for putting on a big meet.”

While the weather may play a factor in what kinds of performances transpire — the Saturday forecast looks promising, if a bit windy — Mahoney said the competition should be exciting.

“I don’t know if we’re gonna have a lot of legal times, or, in the 400 and up, if we’re gonna have great times, but we should have some big throws with the winds out of the south,” Mahoney said.

Much of the exhilaration so far this year for the Broncos has come on the track.

That’s where senior Jaida Rowe and junior Kaiden Merryman have shined, among others.

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Broncos riding momentum of indoor season into home invite

Rowe currently owns top-five times in the country in the hurdles events. Her 58.44 in the 400 low hurdles ranks No. 1 in the NAIA, while her 13.93 in the 100 high hurdles is fifth in the nation. Both are HC records. She also set the program mark in the indoor 400 earlier this year.

“She’s been great,” Mahoney said. “She’s really talented, and she’s a really hard worker. She’s been talented, but she’s made big strides this year.”

Rowe was an All-American in two outdoor events as a sophomore, placing as high as fifth in the 400 hurdles. She was eighth at nationals last spring.

“I expect a big season from her,” Mahoney said. “The sky’s really the limit.”

Merryman is a junior college transfer who transferred to Hastings as a dual-sport athlete. He played football in the fall.

“I’m gonna give (football coach Matt Franzen) most of the credit on that one,” Mahoney said of Merryman. “He did most of the recruiting job, but Kaiden mentioned that part of the deal was he’d like to run track, too. We’ve been very pleasantly surprised.”

Merryman scored a team-high six touchdowns and totaled 565 yards on the ground as a running back for the Bronco football team. During the indoor track season, he placed fifth at nationals in the 60-meter dash, and set the program record in the event.

So far in outdoor, he’s unbeaten while moving into fourth place on the school’s all-time charts.

“We knew he was good, but he’s just a hard worker, always positive,” Mahoney said. “Just ideal. For a kid coming into a new program, he’s meshed well, he’s done some great things... All year he’s only lost two races in the 60 or the 100.”

Merryman could use the wind to his advantage Saturday post the program’s top 100 time. While a certain level of wind-aided mark wouldn’t qualify him for nationals, Mahoney said the HC school records don’t discriminate. That said, Merryman, whose best time in a 10.50, would need to top the 10.25 set by Omar Whitfield in 1991.

“It’s insanely fast, but he might have a shot at it,” Mahoney said.

The last time the Broncos were on their home track, they “exceeded expectations,” according to their head coach. The men placed sixth at the GPAC championships and the women ninth.

While they’re dealing with some injuries coming out of the indoor season, Mahoney said he hopes his team continually improves the rest of the way — including this week at home.

“I wanna see them, at the end of the year say that they made progress, that they feel they competed as hard as they can and got a good deal out of this season,” Mahoney said.

“If we can get healthy and have some nice stretches of weather to end this year, it’s just a lot easier to get everyone healthy and on that same competitive, confident page.”