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CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO- The Western Illinois Men’s and Women’s Track teams wrapped up their Ohio Valley Conference Meet this afternoon in whichseven different athletes made the podium in their respective events.
Arnie Grunert won the Pole Vault on the Men’s side, vaulting 5.20 M to take home first place on Thursday afternoon. He attempted to vault 5.36 M, which would have been an OVC Championship meet record, but faulted on all three of his attempts. In the long jump, Cage Davison took home third place byjumping 7.36 M on his fifth attempt.
Placing fourth right behind Davison was Toriano Tate, who jumped 7.32 M on his sixth and final attempt in the event.
Davison’s 7.36 M puts him in the top 10 all-time in program history in the long jump, sitting in eighth.
On the running side, Logan Beckmier placed third in the 10000 M with a time of 32:41.25 and ran his final 400 M in an impressive 1:02.7 to reach thepodium.
On the Women’s side, Emma Ponx placed third in the Pole Vault, vaulting 3.98 M and picking up six points for the women’s team. Ponx’s vault of 3.98 Mnow ranks her second all-time in program history breaking her previous record of 3.90 M. Colleen Johnson and Dana Surwillo placed in fourth and fifthplace respectively, both vaulting 3.78 M. Their vault of 3.78 M ties them for fourth all-time in program history, passing Johnson’s previous mark of 3.72 M. Nakeita Kessling would take third place in the triple jump as she would jump 12.02 M on her final attempt in the event, passing several girls at the lastminute to get on to the podium.
On the running side, Aylana Cezar took third place in the 3000 M Steeple running an 11:33.34. Her first split was 45.8 seconds which helped her stay with the leaders throughout the race. In the 100 M dash, Mya Hippolyte ran an 11.71 in the Prelims to qualify for the finals. Her run of 11.71 now ranks hersecond all-time in program history in the 100 M dash. In the finals, Hippolyte would take third place in the event with a time of 11.74.
The Men’s team finished the meet in seventh place with 48 points while the Women’s team finished in 10th place with 37 points.
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