Broncbusters shine in indoor debut

By Mike Pilosof

Highland, KS-Despite a fall semester riddled with cancellations, Angel Ayala never wilted. And he's carried that momentum into the indoor season.

The Garden City native punched the Broncbusters first individual victory of the season, taking home first in the 1000-meter race on Saturday at the Highland Challenge.

"I'm very proud of how this team did in our opening meet," Head Coach Emmett Statzer said. "A lot of our athletes have been waiting for this day as most of them missed opportunities to compete due to COVID last year."

Ayala was gold again, notching a time of 2:44.35, a good two seconds faster than Highland's Wyatt Allen. But the man to watch out for in 2021 is Isaiah Armstrong, the Holcomb product who transferred from Wichita State, tallied a blazing 1:34.86 in the 600-meter run, sprinting past Highland's Walker Stromgren for first place.

"We are really excited about Isaiah," Statzer added. "He's a special athlete for sure."

Ayala and Armstrong weren't the only highlights of the weekend. Sophomore Debonaire Williams finished third in the men's heptathlon with a personal best score of 4,075 while teammate Cameron Collins totaled 3,038 points. Meantime, Jereun Wagner took second in the 55-meter dash, posting a time of 6.58 seconds; then came back to finish second in the 200-meters (24.06). Noah Gentry came in second in the 55-meter hurdles, clocking in at 8.94 seconds, Tahj Ferguson put up a mark of 21' 6.25 in the long jump-good for second place; Matryion Easley was third in the 200, and Froy Ruiz grabbed bronze in the 1,000-meter race, running a time of 2:56.81.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Statzer explained.

The Broncbusters are back in action Saturday, competing in the All-Kansas Invite at Washburn University.