CINCINNATI, Ohio.--- Asbury track & field officially opened the 2025 season on Saturday with an indoor meet in Cincinnati, Ohio, hosted by Mount St. Joseph College. The meet was highlighted by multiple AU indoor school records established and three student-athletes punching their ticket to the National Christian College Athletics Association (NCCAA) Indoor Track & Field National Championship.
Both the Asbury men's and women's teams finished seventh out of 11 teams in the competition. Wilmington (Ohio) won the women's competition, followed by Kentucky State. Shawnee State took the men's title just ahead of Wilmington.
In her first ever event for AU track and field,
Kallee Cooper burst on the scene by setting three individual school records during the opening of Asbury's second official season as a program. She blasted out of the blocks in her opening college race to break the school record in the 60 meter dash with a time of 8.72 seconds, and followed that up later with a record 29.12 effort in the 200 meter event.
Cooper also established a new school standard with her long jump of 4.05 meters by virtue of being the first Eagle student-athlete to contest that event in an indoor meet.
Asbury freshman biology major
Paige Asher became the first to ever compete indoors in the 60 meter hurdles and high jump events, thus becoming the new school record holder in both events. Freshman
Cosette Meloon tied with Paige in the high jump for a share of the record.
Paige also joined forces with
Ambria Mack,
Mackenzie Wesley, and
Brihanna Basil to trim over seven seconds off of the year-old school record in the 4 x 200 meter relay. All four of the record-setters in the relay are freshmen.
August Price, a sophomore on the freshman-heavy squad, opened her year with a big improvement on the school record she set last year in the shot put event. NCCAA Cross Country All-American
Bailey Gassmann eclipsed the standard needed in the Mile run to qualify for the Indoor Nationals.
Speed was on display by freshman sprinter
Caleb Payne as he rocketed to new school records in both the 60 and 200 meter events. His time of 7.14 in the 60 also secured his spot in the NCCAA Nationals lineup.
Junior strongman
Brendan Funke heaved the 16 lb. shot put 13.74 meters to add a single centimeter to the record he set last year. His performance also earned him a trip to NCCAA Nationals.
Austin Moreland became the first ever indoor hurdler from Asbury, sprinting over the 42" barriers in a time of 9.62 seconds for 60 meters.
View Full Results Here
"I was really pleased with what I saw today from this new team. They competed well, displayed a real competitive attitude, and had great team spirit. The newcomers have some talent on which we can build, and we have a nice group of upperclassmen to lead the way. We are still pretty thin numbers-wise and can't afford any losses to injuries, but this is going to be a fun bunch of athletes to work with."
Randy Crist | Head Cross Country Coach
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