Central Methodist junior Taylor Bottomley set a new school record in the (indoor) shot put with a throw of 49-5.5 at Central Missouri’s Mule Relays on Saturday.

The Harrisburg graduate broke the previous record of 48-10.75 set by Will Freeman in 2009.

Mutiu Shittu and Alex Cordova also turned in a pair of first-place performances in the 600-yard race and the 200-meter dash, respectively, along with a top finish from the 4x400-meter relay team. Hayden Hackman was third in the 600-yard race.

“This was another really good day for the men and we look like we are on the verge of popping some big performances,” CMU head coach Mark Nelson said.

“The highlight of the day for us has to be Taylor coming out and breaking the school record in the shot put, but we had a slew of strong performances around him too. “

Jesse (Pinkley) vaulted over 15 feet for the first time in his college career, and guys like Alex and Mutiu looked strong winning their events. With the conference meet just a couple of weeks away, I really like where we are at now.”

Lisa Sauter headlined the day for the women’s program with a first-place finish in the 1000-meter race, followed by a number of teammates hitting personal bests in various events. Senior Pearl Morgan finished second in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. Freshman Kaitlyn Weber was second in the triple jump and third in the long jump

“We had a lot of personal bests today out of this group, with Pearl and Katie really standing out to me today,” Nelson said. “Pearl blitzed one of the fastest times in school history in the 60-meter dash, while Katie hit massive lifetime bests in both the long and triple jump.

“Lisa also had a great day, running a gutsy race to win the 1000 meter while also running a solid leg on the 4x400. I am really excited to see what we accomplish over the next two weeks.”

CMU baseball picks up two wins

Everything clicked for the No. 20 Central Methodist baseball team in Oklahoma City on Saturday as the Eagles picked up a pair of decisive victories over top-10 teams to snap a three-game losing streak.

Logan Haring had a monster game in the Eagle’s 12-2 win over No. 7 Bellevue. The senior first baseman was 4-5 with a home run and five RBI in the first game of the day. Kenny Otero picked up the win, allowing a run on two hits and three walks over five innings. He also went 3-4 at the plate with two doubles and drove in three runs. Devon Garcia was also 3-4 and scored a pair of runs and Z Westley hit his second home run of the season.

Sergio Macias came up with the clutch at-bat CMU’s 4-1 win in the nightcap over No. 10 Oklahoma City. Macias’s two-out homer to right field scored three runs, breaking a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning. Macias also picked up a save with a clean, two-strikeout seventh inning after starter Mason Schwellenbach allowed just two hits over six innings. Schwellenbach allowed one run, three walks, and struck out six.

A rematch with Oklahoma City on Sunday was canceled due to weather. The Eagles (3-3) will play a pair of double headers at LSU-Alexandria on Feb. 15 &16 before returning to Fayette for the home opener against Briar Cliff on Feb. 22.

CMU women blowout Graceland

The No. 9 Central Methodist women’s basketball team has a 22-2 record after winning three straight on the road, including a 112-65 win at Graceland on Saturday.

The Eagles led 63-29 at the half. Sam Caruth came off of the bench to lead the Eagles with 19 points. She was 5-11 from the 3-point line and 7-13 overall. Crimson Jones was 11-12 from the free-throw line and finished with 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Lanay Rodney had 17 points, while Daesjah Ely and Veronica Preciado each had 10.

Reserves Lauren Goldbold, Abby Naylor, and Nia Flowers scored six, four, and two points respectively, combining to shoot 5-8 in six minutes of action.

On Thursday, Mercedes Jefflo scored 27 points in a 92-88 win at Evangel. The Crusaders led 86-85 with 2:20 left until Crimson Jones gave the Eagles a one-point advantage with a pair of free throws. A 3-pointer from Jefflo put CMU ahead by two possessions. Evangel went 1-5 from the floor and 0-2 from the free-throw line over the last 70 seconds as CMU escaped with a win.

Lanay Rodney had 21 points in the win. Daesjah Ely was 10-14 from the floor for 20 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

CMU men look to make playoffs

The Central Methodist men won back-to-back conference road games, defeating Evangel 79-66 on Thursday and Graceland 87-75 on Saturday.

James Byrd made 14 3-pointers in the two games, leading CMU with 24 points in the win over Evangel and a 30-point game at Graceland.

CMU trailed by one point at the half at Evangel and scored 47 second-half points to pull away for the win. Isaiah Burton was 6-6 for 14 points. Kyle McDermed had 15 and Josh Robinson scored 13. Freshman Noah Patrick was 3-7 from the 3-point line for nine points off the bench.

McDermed had 24 points at Graceland and Robinson had a double-double with 17 points and 11 assists.

With the pair of wins, CMU (9-15) moves to ninth in the 13-team Heart conference standings at 8-10 in conference games.

Only the top eight teams will have a spot in the conference tournament. Evangel is currently one game ahead of CMU at 9-9, and the Eagles are just one and a half games out of sixth place with six games remaining on the schedule.

Navarro becomes All-American

Madlyne Navarro battled her way through the 191-weight class in the WCWA National Championship to earn an eighth-place finish and a WCWA All-American title.

The honor etches Navarro’s name in the record books as the first women’s wrestler to receive All-American honors in program history.

Navarro earned an 11-0 tech fall in her opening match. After falling in the quarterfinals, Navarro came back with a 2:10 pin in the consolation round of eight to move into the seventh-place match with a guaranteed medal.

Andrea Montoya went 1-2 in national championship action at 136 pounds. Treasure Smith was 2-2 at 155 with a pair of victories by tech fall.