Jan. 22, 2011

Final Stats

CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Tiger track and field squads returned to action, Saturday, at the EIU Mega Meet following an extended holiday break. Several Tiger track and field athletes showed no signs of rust after the break, giving the U of M several strong performances at Eastern Illinois.

"I thought our freshmen and sophomore groups did a great job today," said head coach Kevin Robinson. "Overall, the meet went very well."

The women's squad had several high-level performances on the track, beginning with freshman Ellen Kildal (5:13.36) and sophomore Louisa Lingley (5:13.50) finishing second and third, respectively, in the mile run. Sophomore Quaniqua Jones won the 60m hurdle event with an impressive 8.94 mark.

In the field, sophomore Kirsten Berding won her second high jump in a row, this time at 1.65m in a jump-off with Murray State's Katie Forshey. Freshman Laura Toldy was third in the high jump at 1.60m. Junior Janelle Mason (3.53m, pole vault) and senior Deneen Kirk (5.18m, long jump) each had runner-up performances in their respective events.

The throws, as the often are, were the Lady Tigers forte at this meet. Redshirt freshman Britta Jaarats won the shot put with a 13.83m toss, while freshman Anna Bischof finished second with a 13.43m throw. Freshman weight thrower Cyarra Wells finished third with a 16.01m attempt.

On the men's side of the event, the middle distances were a strong point on the track. Freshman Nick Lingley was runner-up in the 800m run with a 1:56.11 run. Freshman James Maglasang (4:25.08) and sophomore Abdi Guleed (4:30.11) were second and third, respectively, in the mile run.

In hurdles action, junior Robert Jackson was the first collegiate runner across the line in the 60m hurdles, with an 8.07 run.

The veteran 4x400m relay team of seniors Nick Harold, Guy Hudson, Richard Lowe and junior Alex Sweet finished second with a 3:21.82 run.

Over in the field, the Tigers were runner-up in every jump event. Freshman Darius Lynwood (2.02m, high jump), sophomore Karlis Pujats (5.08m, pole vault), junior Cam Baker (6.81m, long jump; lost jump-off) and senior Jerome Leslie (14.42m, triple jump) each placed second in their respective disciplines.

The Tigers were runner-up in each jump event, but swept the throws, beginning with sophomore Savvas Arestis. Arestis, from Cyprus, won the shot put with a 16.12m toss, outdistancing a freshman Tiger, Elijah Mahaley, who tossed the stone 15.47m.

Sophomore Andrew Miller (first, 17.17m), sophomore Tom Willcox (second, 16.47m) and Arestis (third, 16.27m) finished one-through-three in the weight throw for the Tigers.

"The lower class carried the team," said Robinson. "We have a lot of work to do and welcome next week's challenge."

The U of M will be back on the track, next weekend, at the Rod McCravy Memorial in Lexington, Ky.