Trailblazers Track and Field open 2025 Indoor season strong at Bellarmine Open

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Vincennes University Track and Field team opened their 2025 Indoor season Friday at the 2025 Bellarmine Open in Louisville. The Blazers got the season off to a very strong start, notching three NJCAA National qualifiers in their first meet and built a great foundation for the rest of the season. The VU men’s team was led on the day by an outstanding performance by freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) who picked up a third place finish in the 3000 meters, facing several NCAA Division I runners with an impressive NJCAA Nationals qualifying time of 8:27.21

January 17, 2025

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Vincennes University Track and Field team opened their 2025 Indoor season Friday at the 2025 Bellarmine Open in Louisville.

The Blazers got the season off to a very strong start, notching three NJCAA National qualifiers in their first meet and built a great foundation for the rest of the season.

The VU men's team was led on the day by an outstanding performance by freshman Anis Abdaoui (Kairouan, Tunisia) who picked up a third place finish in the 3000 meters, facing several NCAA Division I runners with an impressive NJCAA Nationals qualifying time of 8:27.21

The second NJCAA qualifier for the Trailblazer men's team was freshman Anthony Keene (Harrisburg, Ill.) who came away with fourth place in the pole vault after clearing a height of 4.35 meters.

The Trailblazers also had a strong showing Friday in the 200 meter dash led by sophomore Olamipo Ladipo (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who placed third with a time of 21.71 seconds and sophomore Malik Ferdinand (Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines) who finished seventh with a time of 21.95.

Freshmen Karmiel Williams (Jasper, Ind.) and Devin Wilson (Indianapolis, Ind.) rounded out the VU finishers in the 200 meters with Williams taking 35th at 23.65 and Wilson placing 37th at 23.65 seconds.

Ferdinand, Williams and Wilson all played double duty Friday at the Bellarmine meet, with Ferdinand teaming up with fellow sophomore Zion Pruitt (Avon, Ind.) and freshmen Isaiah Ervin (French Lick, Ind.) and ArTezz Butler-Sanders (Indianapolis, Ind.) in the 4x400 relay, finishing third overall with a time of 3:25.21.

Williams and Wilson competed with the team of freshmen Marshawn Bradley (Dyer, Ind.) Kelvin Kipsang (Kapsabet, Kenya) to take 12th place with a time of 3:43.08.

Ervin, Pruitt and Butler-Sanders all then took part in the 400 meter dash, with Ervin leading the pack of Trailblazers with a time of 52.13 to take 18th.

Zion Pruitt was close behind with a time of 52.17 to take 19th and ArTezz Butler-Sanders placed 21st with a time 52.48.

Kelvin Kipsang rounded out his day on the track by competing in the 1000 meters, finishing 10th with a time of 2:43.84.

In the field events, freshman Chase Guthrie (Indianapolis, Ind.) came away with a ninth place finish in the long jump with a distance of 6.69 meters, while freshman Cayden Gasser (Delphi, Ind.) placed 20th in the shot put with a longest throw of 11.11 meters.

Guthrie then came back to compete on the track in the 60 meter sprint, finishing 22nd overall with a time of 7.13 seconds.

Freshman Aaden Mapp (Indianapolis, Ind.) also took part in the 60 meter dash with a final time of 7.55 seconds to place 51st overall.

The VU men's results on the day were rounded out in the mile race led by sophomore Caden Hostetler (LaGrange, Ind.) who placed 20th with a time of 4:33.03.

Freshman Jeremy Delobel (Velpen, Ind.), sophomore Nathan Whitehead (Vincennes, Ind.) and freshman Lane Connaway (Carmi, Ill.) were in the next group of VU finishers in the mile, with Delobel leading the pack in 27th with a time of 4:48.16.

Whitehead was close behind taking 28th place at 4:48.75 and Connaway placed 29th with a time of 4:49.26.

Freshman Hayden Kler (Hillsboro, Ind.) rounded out the group with a 34th place finish in the mile with a final time of 5:16.99.

The Trailblazer women's Track and Field team was led by none other than two-time defending NJCAA National Champion sophomore Sophia Salvi (Sao Paulo, Brazil) who notched the third NJCAA National qualifying standard Friday by taking seventh in the pole vault after clearing 3.61 meters.

Freshman Zoe Allen (Anderson, Ind.) placed seventh in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 9.71 seconds and freshman Sara Belgacem (Tunis Tunisia) also placed seventh in 1000 meter with a final time of 3:17.25.

Belgacem was joined in the 1000 meter race by sophomores Adi Fuller (Evansville, Ind.) and Jasmyn Self (Casey, Ill.), with Fuller coming away in 11th place with a time of 3:24.11 and Self placing 14th at 3:34.68.

The team of Allen, Belgacem, Fuller and Self then teamed up for the 4x400 relay to place third overall with a final time of 4:29.94.

Freshmen Alexis Hale (Evansville, Ind.) and Allie Black (Lynn, Ind.) rounded out the Trailblazer results Friday in the 3000 meters with Hale taking home 27th overall with a time of 11:50.14 and Black placing 29th at 12:37.51.

"We had a good start to the season today," VU Interim Head Track and Field Coach Tyler Steigenga said. "The first meet of the year doesn't carry any major expectations. It's more so just getting back in the competitive mindset and getting a chance to race for the first time in a while."

"Sophia and Tony kicked off the meet with National qualifying standards in the Pole Vault," Steigenga added. "We haven't been able to jump in practice since before the winter break, so the goal was to come out today and just hit the qualifying standards. It took a few jumps for them to get going but once they did, they were clearing each bar with ease."

"Zoe kicked off the running events with a PR in the 60m hurdles," Steigenga said. "After her, in the men's 60m Chase had a good opener and Aaden had a big PR. Caden was the first distance runner to run and ran one of his best races as a Trailblazer, resulting in a five second PR in the mile. In the following heat, Lane and Nathan also ran lifetime bests."

"In the women's 1000, Adi ran a PR in a solid season opening race," Steigenga added. "The men's 200 had some history making times. Olamipo and Malik ran the second and fourth fastest times in program history, both just off the National qualifying mark."

"In the men's 3000, Anis ran an excellently paced race and finished third overall in the field," Steigenga said. "His time of 8:27 was well under the National qualifying mark and was the second fastest time in school history. Alexis also had a great race in the 3000m with a big PR as well."

"With the 4x400 as the final race of the day, we put together some solid races on tired legs," Steigenga added. "Malik ran a great opening leg and ArTezz came back from a decent 400 race to run a great leg on the 4x400, which ended up being two seconds faster."

The Trailblazers will look to keep this early season success going as they prepare to head back to Louisville Friday, Jan. 24 for the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic.

Vincennes will then head back to Louisville the following week, the third of four straight Louisville meets to open the season when VU takes part in the two-day PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational Friday, Jan. 31 and Saturday, Feb. 1.

"There were a lot of good things on the track today and overall it was a good way to open up the season," Steigenga said. "We had some trouble with block starts today as it was a lot of the sprinter's first times running on a banked track. It was a good experience to race in a new environment as that's what Nationals will be like at the end of the season."

"Everyone came into today with tired legs after some hard workouts earlier this week," Steigenga added. "They ran well today despite that and understand that we've got a lot of good opportunities ahead of us this season. It will be exciting to come back next week and compete against even more competitive fields."

VINCENNES RESULTS

MEN'S RESULTS

60m

Chase Guthrie – 22, 7.13

Aaden Mapp – 51, 7.55

200m

Olamipo Ladipo – 3, 21.71

Malik Ferdinand – 7, 21.95

Karmiel Williams – 35, 23.65

Devin Wilson – 37, 23.65

400m

Isaiah Ervin – 18, 52.13