Monday, April 25, 2011

Trojans Compete at SIU-Edwardsville

RESULTS

A small group of HLG athletes traveled to Edwardsville, IL on Saturday to compete in the SIU-Edwardsville Twilight Open. After rain delayed the start of the meet by nearly an hour, the Trojans took to the track and came through with some great results.

Breanna Newton ran a tremendous race in the 1500m, placing 2nd in a school record time of 4:46.17, a 5 second improvement over the previous record the she already owned. Breanna returned later in the meet to place 7th in the 800m with a time of 2:27.27. Sarah Wilson established a new school record in the 400m dash, finishing in 9th place in a time of 1:00.75. Mandi Riddle (1:09.50) placed second in the 400m Hurdles with teammate Holland McCoy (1:11.45) finishing right behind her in third place. In the pole vault, Cailey Wilkinson and Cara Grinde tied for the top spot, with both clearing the bar at 3.12m. Jocelyn Bright battled slick conditions to place 4th in the javelin (27.52m).

On the men's side, Zach Lewis set a new school record in the 800m, completing the race in 1:59.65. Edward Gregg set a new personal best in the 1500m run, finishing the race in a time of 4:23.75. John Anderson raced to a 4th place finish in the 400m Hurdles with a time of 57.13 while teammate Jordan Creech placed 7th (1:00.58). Anderson added to his day with a 3rd place showing in the javelin. His toss of 47.39 matched his personal best and school record performance. Easton Padden placed 4th in the pole vault (4.27m) while Brett Jones finished 6th in a personal best vault of 3.96m. Bernardo Massuchin was only able to take one attempt in the long jump due to sustaining an injury. However, that first leap of 6.12m was good enough to place 5th in the event.

The team will now prepare for the upcoming American Midwest Conference outdoor track & field championships. The throwing events will take place in Thursday, April 28 at William Woods University in Fulton, MO while the remainder of the meet will take place April 29-30 on the campus of McKendree University in Lebanon, IL. The pole vault will kick off the competition on Friday at 3pm, while Saturday's events will begin with the 5,000m Racewalk at 9:30am.

Women Capture Team Title at IC Mid-Week Invite

The Hannibal-LaGrange University track & field team mixed things up a bit this past week as they traveled to Jacksonville, IL for a midweek meet at Illinois College this past Wednesday. The Trojans were met with chilly (but rain free) conditions but that did not prevent the team from performing very well, highlighted by the women's team taking home top honors over the likes of McKendree, Principia, Maryville, and the host school. The injury battered men's squad performed well too, placing third in the team standings.

THE WOMEN
The Lady Trojans were solid in all aspects of the competition, taking home a total of 8 event titles. Jasman Edmond took home the 100m dash crown (12.99) with teammate Sarah Wilson placing third in her debut in the event. Wilson followed that performance with a victory in the 200m dash (27.14) while Breanna Newton placed 3rd in a time of 28.24. Christina Carter set a new personal best in the 800m race and came through victorious with her time of 2:36.71. In the 5,000m, Nicole Griesbaum finished in second place and shattered the school record with her time of 19.33.75. Sarah Erickson placed 4th (20:38) with teammate Amber Zinkula finishing 5th (21:25).

In the field events, Brittni Klundt and Holland McCoy tied for first place in the high jump (1.50m), while pole vaulters Cara Grinde, Holland McCoy, and Cailey Wilkinson completed a 1-2-3 sweep in the pole vault. Molley Patrick took home a gold in the discus with her toss of 32.32m. Jocelyn Bright also took home top prize, with her gold coming in the javelin (29.90m). For the third meet in a row, Abbie Herrold set a new school record in the hammer throw (33.92m), while adding a 3rd place finish in the discus and 4th place showing in the shot put. Alera Gill-Binder set a new personal best in the shot put (10.05m) and finished 3rd in the event.

THE MEN
Most of the men's team competed in events outside of what they normally do, but the group still saw some good results. John Anderson took home top honors in the 400m Hurdles, finishing the grueling race in 58.21.
Philiph Tonui took a break from his marathon training to place third in the 800m with a time of 2:02.18. Jason Cline set a new personal best in the 5K, winning the silver with his time of 17:15.75.

In the field events, Bernardo Massuchin placed 2nd in the triple jump (12.73m) following a 5th place showing in the long jump (6.38m). Mike Clemons finished right behind Massuchin in both events, placing 3rd in the triple jump (12.69m), and setting a new personal best in the long jump with his 6th place leap of 6.19m. Easton Padden placed 2nd in the pole vault (4.57m), falling only to assistant coach Jason Scott who cleared 4.87m. Branden Ramos placed 3rd in the javelin, taking home the bronze with his toss of 40.11m. Chris Smith placed 4th in the high jump, clearing the bar at 1.87m.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Things Heat Up for Trojans at CMU

RESULTS

The Hannibal-LaGrange University track & field team made a return visit to Central Methodist University for the Asics Invitational this past weekend. The Trojans battled an untimely heat wave to post some of their top times of the season so far.

On the men's side, sophomore Bernardo Massuchin led the way with a pair of 6th place finishes in the long jump (6.68m - 21'11") and triple jump (12.95m - 42'6"). Bernardo's effort in the triple jump established a new school record in the event, the first of four new records set on the day. Easton Padden took home the silver in the men's pole vault, clearing the bar at 4.45m (14'7.25) while teammate Brett Jones set a new personal best, placing 8th with a mark of 3.85m (12'7.5"). Chris Smith had his second straight solid performance in the high jump, placing 9th with a mark of 1.86m (6'1.25").

On the track, the men got a solid performance from sophomore John Anderson, who set a new personal best in the 400m hurdles with a finishing time of 56.75 seconds. That time gave John a 10-place finish in the event and stands as the number two time in the HLG record book. In the 800m race, sophomore Zach Lewis lowered his own school record time, placing 12th with a time of 2:01.02.

The women's team had a number of strong showings, highlighted by the record setting performance of Mandi Riddle, as the freshman placed 10th in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:07.90. Mandi's effort placed her at the top of the school record list for the event. Breanna Newton had another strong showing in the 1500m race, placing sixth with a time of 4:52.75. Sprinter Jasman Edmond put together a pair of good races, placing 13th and 15th, respectively, in the 100m (12.86) and 200m (26.68) dash events.

In the field events, senior Cara Grinde was the runner-up in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 3.20m (10'6"). High jumpers Brittni Klundt and Holland McCoy took home top-10 finishes as the pair tied for 9th in the event, clearing 1.50m (4'11").

The team will enjoy a rare weekend off before making a mid-week trip to Illinois College on Tuesday, April 19.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Trojans Show Improvement at WashU Invite

Andre Towsend competing in the 400m Hurdles
The Hannibal-LaGrange University track & field team spent this past Friday and Saturday at Washington University in St. Louis. At a meet that included over 1,500 athletes from over 20 teams, the Trojans performed very well, once again rewriting the record books, while turning in two more NAIA national qualifying performances.
Tyler Malone setting new personal best in 800m

MEN
On Friday night under the lights, junior Philiph Tonui competed in the 10,000m race. Running in a separate heat that included the top-18 competitors, Philiph ran to a 5th place finish. His time of 32:00.03 set a qualifying standard for the NAIA Outdoor National Championships. However, Philiph will continue to train to compete in the marathon at the national meet. On Saturday, the Trojans got some great results from the field events. Sophomore Bernardo Massuchin took home the silver in the long jump, turning in a best mark of 6.62m. Newcomer Chris Smith traded in his basketball shoes for some high jump spikes and had a fantastic debut, taking 5th in a highly competitive high jump event. In addition, his leap of 1.90m (6'2.75") set a new school record. In the men's pole vault, sophomore Easton Padden took home a third place finish with a vault of 4.40m (14'5.5"). On the track, Andre Townsend made his season debut in the 400m Hurdles and, despite nursing an injured back that has limited his training, delivered a 4th place finish in the event with a NAIA-qualifying time of 54.56. In the same event, sophomore John Anderson placed 9th with a time of 58.62. In the 800m race, sophomore Zach Lewis ran a strong race, cutting two seconds off of last week's efforts on his way to a time of 2:01.71. Freshman Tyler Malone shaved three seconds off his time, finishing in 2:03.04.
Breanna Newton - New School Record-1500m

WOMEN
The Lady Trojans were led by the outstanding effort of sophomore Holland McCoy, who finished the two-day meet with three top-10 finishes. After placing 4th in the pole vault with a personal best mark of 3.05m (10'0"), she returned on Saturday to tie her personal best in the high jump, with a 7th place effort of 1.50m (4'11"). Holland concluded the meet by finishing 9th in the 400m hurdles, with a time of 1:11.79. Breanna Newton also ran very well for HLG, as the freshman made her debut in the 1500m race memorable, finishing in sixth place with a time of 4:51.77. After that school record setting performance, Breanna came back and finished 12th in the 800m race (2:24.02). Junior Jasman Edmond turned in solid efforts in the 100m (12.84-13th) and 200m (26.81-16th) events, while teammate Sarah Wilson set a new school record in the 400m with her 8th place time of 1:00.92. Sarah came back in the 200m to finish in 17th place with a time of 26.90. Senior Carissa Eichmeyer collected HLG's lone gold of the meet, winning the 5,000m race walk with a time of 32::08.00. Later on Friday night, freshman Nicole Griesbaum set a new school record in the 10,000m run, placing 10th with a time of 41:53.92. Mandi Riddle improved her time in the 400m hurdles, placing 8th overall with a time of 1:08.97. The ladies got two more top-10 efforts in the field events, with Cara Grinde earning the silver in the pole vault (3.20m-10'6") and sophomore Brittni Klundt placing 9th in the high jump (1.50m-4'11"). Freshman Molley Patrick made her track & field debut in the discus and placed 12th with a toss of 32.62m (107'0"). Sophomore Abbie Herrold made her season debut in the hammer throw and turned in a school record effort, placing 19th overall with her throw of 31.00m (101'8").

Sarah Wilson on her way to record setting mark in 400m
Brett Jones clearing the bar in the pole vault
The team will travel back to Fayette, MO to compete in the CMU Asics Invite on Saturday while Nicole Griesbaum, Sarah Erickson, Jason Cline, and Nathan Uding will make the trip to Jackson, TN to compete in the Andrew Jackson Memorial Half-Marathon, with hopes of hitting a qualifying time for the marathon at the NAIA National Championships in May.