The week the Valparaiso University men's and women's track & field programs have been waiting for has arrived as the Beacons are set to participate in the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday hosted by Southern Illinois at Lew Hartzog Track and Field Complex in Carbondale, Ill.
 
Events will begin at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. on Sunday. ESPN+ will have live coverage beginning at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday and 1:10 p.m. on Sunday. Links to live results and video coverage will be available on ValpoAthletics.com.
 
"There's a lot of excitement going into the Championships," Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Vincent Walker said. "We spend our whole year thinking about this meet. The group, especially the track group, starts training in the fall and it's tough for them because they don't have those milestones that the distance group does with cross country races. They start to foam at the mouth anytime we get to championship season. The attitude this week has been trying to stay relaxed and have a little bit of fun. It's not often we get wrapped up with classes and don't have to worry about that affecting practice times or someone being up late studying. We're getting a lot of good recovery. We've learned not to take it too seriously. If we spend all week hyper-fixated on the meet, by the time we get there, we're already burnt out. This group is excited."
 
Throws
Junior Amelia Tandy (New Albany, Ind. / New Albany) leads the Valpo women in the throws, while seniors Reid Davis (Nashville, Ind. / Brown County) and Will Rinker (Valparaiso, Ind. / Chesterton) are among the throwers to watch on the men's side.
 
"Men's discus has been a huge jump this year," Walker said. "Will started picking up a lot of steam in the outdoor season last year and has continued to roll with that momentum. Reid has had an awesome year in the hammer and discus and set a lot of PRs. That group is figuring out what they need to do to adjust going into 'The Big Dance.' I'm excited to see that group compete."
 
Tandy entered the conference championship on a high note, setting a trio of personal bests at the Badger Challenge in Wisconsin, doing so in the discus, hammer and shot put. Her shot put of 12.94 meters (42-5.5) ranked fourth in program history.  
 
"Amelia has had an unbelievable season coming off a crazy year with injuries last year, and going into this year having to take the time to build into things kind of slowly, getting used to being back and getting used to some of those technical skills again," Walker said. "During this training block, she has fine-tuned and adjusted things. She's someone to watch out for this weekend; she's a dark horse in some of her events."
 
Distance
Two unique storylines on the women's side represent headlines for the distance group. Freshman Kensington Black (Franklin, Ohio / Franklin Senior) approached Walker in the middle of the season and asked about doing steeplechase.
 
"We knew she could handle the distance events really well, and we thought it may be good for her to give the steeple a try and see if she could hurdle the barriers," Walker said. "She opened up lights out and put herself in the top eight in the conference her first time running it. There was time to fine-tune and we've made a lot of adjustments now, working on the technical hurdling. She'll be someone who is going to surprise a lot of people this weekend."
 
Another key distance storyline is the addition of fifth-year senior Chante Dixon (Benoni, South Africa / Kempton Park [UTSA]), who joined the team at the start of the spring semester in January.
 
"Chante had a little bit of a slower start to the indoor season as she was adjusting to our training and some of the mileage and cross training that we had her run," Walker said. "The last couple workouts that we've done have built some confidence and showed her that she's a little bit stronger than she thinks she is with some of the times that she's hit."
 
Sprints/Hurdles
After inserting herself into the program record book in three locations as a freshman, Julianna Ferrara (Fox River Grove, Ill. / Cary-Grove) has continued to shine in the sprints as a sophomore.
 
"That kid has had an incredible year," Walker said. "She came out of the gates swinging in the indoor season and has not looked back. She's had some great times and then you look out there and there is more in the tank. If she can keep the confidence up – in those events, it can be difficult to avoid tightening up and stay relaxed and loose – but if she can do that and pace herself a little bit smoother, she's someone who could certainly be a surprise this weekend. It's been fun to watch her progress."
 
Jumps
The jumps are a group where Valpo has podium experience as junior Micah Mullings (Minesing, Ontario, Canada / Barrie North) has three career All-MVC finishes – 2023 in the outdoor triple jump, 2024 in the indoor long jump and 2024 in the indoor triple jump.
 
"Micah has had a bit of a rollercoaster year, but one thing that we've always enjoyed about him is that he's a gamer," Walker said. "He can have an off season throughout the regular season, but when we get to the conference championship, that is a guy who I'm confident in. He's been there, he's been on the podium and he's respected by his competitors. We know he's not someone to write off; it'll be fun to see what he can put out on the runway."
 
Multis
Sophomore AJ Walsh (Lombard, Ill. / IC Catholic Prep) in the heptathlon and junior Katie Koryczan (Crown Point, Ind. / Crown Point [Purdue Northwest]) in the pentathlon both thrived at the indoor championships with Walsh setting a new program standard and Koryczan improving her own program mark.
 
"Every time AJ steps on the track, it seems like he rises to the occasion," Walker said. "The growth that he's had this year has been incredible, and I think a big part of that is his attitude. He loves to compete; he loves to push himself to the limit. When he's standing on the line or going down the runway or standing in the ring, he flips a switch. His face changes, his demeanor is a little bit different. He wants it so bad. The thing we love about him as coaches is that you can't coach drive into someone. Anytime Katie has entered a multi, she comes away breaking her own school record. She's broken it three times now, and she's done it by a couple hundred points each time, which means she's really excelling in those individual events. With another year of development, we're going to see even more of a jump, and she's been incredible this past year."