Horton leads WKU at CUSA Indoor Championships finale

Published 7:10 pm Saturday, March 1, 2025

Western Kentucky’s men’s and women’s track and field teams wrapped up competition at the 2025 Conference USA Indoor Championships on Saturday in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Kameron Horton’s performance highlighted a total of six personal bests set throughout the day’s events.

The day started off with Horton managing a personal best in the 60-meter hurdles, with a mark of 7.89 seconds, good for fourth place. That currently stands as the second best mark in the history of the program.

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Horton then had a come-from-behind, second-place finish in the 60-meter dash, finishing with a mark of 6.69 which is the fourth best in WKU history. His second place finish in the 60-meter dash marks the first time a Hilltopper has finished that high in the race at CUSA Championships since Julius Morris did so back in 2017.

Following his 60-meter finish, Horton added his second podium finish of the day, taking third in the 200-meter dash.

“Getting a personal best in a single event is remarkable, but surpassing personal records in three events elevates his performance to an entirely new level,” WKU assistant coach Jeff Henderson said in a news release. “I am confident he will continue to get better as we prepare for the NCAA Indoor Nationals.

“We understand the priorities and objectives before us; now it’s time to take action and do it.”

Brunel Desinor became the second Hilltopper to set a PR on the track with a mark of 47.82 in the 400 meters, which was good for fourth place.

Kinley Kunkel was the final Hilltopper on the track to set a PR in the 3,000-meter race, finishing in 9:58.

In field events, the shot put ring proved to be successful for WKU as a pair of Hilltoppers set new personal records. Jayla Gilbert’s throw of 14.17 meters in the women’s event earned her a fourth-place finish. Junior Luke Stegman set a personal best in the men’s event with a 16.21 meter throw.

Van Thrasher was the sixth and final athlete for WKU to set a personal best with a 1.97-meter jump in the men’s high jump. That earned him a fifth-place finish in the event.

“I was proud of both teams with the way they competed this weekend after facing so much adversity this last month,” WKU interim head coach Lee Wood said. “We had several athletes score in the top 8 in the conference. Kam Horton was one of the top three in highest points in the entire meet and ran very well. I was really impressed with Luke Stegman and Jayla Gilbert scoring great finishes in the shot put with all they have been through this past month.”

Men’s Results

60

2nd – Kameron Horton – 6.69

60 Hurdles

4th – Kameron Horton – 7.89*

7th – Van Thrasher – 8.20

200

3rd – Kameron Horton – 20.95

400

7th – Brunel Desinor – 47.82*

3000

14th – Jake Younger – 8:49

4×400

7th – WKU (Weldon, Balcom, Taylor, Thrasher) – 3:18

High Jump

5th – Van Thrasher – 1.97 (6-05.5)*

7th – Jeffery Cruickshank – 1.97 (6-05.5)

8th – Nick Fornoff – 1.97 (6-05.5)

Triple Jump

9th – Sterling Weldon – 14.22 (46-07.75)

Heptathlon

7th – Joey Raybourne – 4,312

8th – Blake Foster – 3,771

Shot Put

6th – Luke Stegman – 16.21 (53-02)*

11th – Kaison Barton – 15.22 (49-11)

14th – Hunter Coslow – 14.34 (47-00.5)

Women’s Results

3000

15th – Kinley Kunkel – 9:58*

4×400

9th – WKU (Huerta, Frisch, Zell, Washington) – 4:00

Triple Jump

16th – Haley Zell – 11.31 (37-03.25)

Shot Put

4th – Jayla Gilbert – 14.17 (46-05.75)*