CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up its first day of the Eastern Illinois Big Blue Invite with personal-bests, while select distance runners recorded personal-bests times in California.
Jianna Williams recorded a personal-best mark in the women's hammer throw Friday evening at EIU, as the standout thrower heaved a mark of 60.57 meters (198-09) to place fifth. Williams' former best in the hammer was a mark of 57.4 meters (189-05) set at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships.
Men's Track
At Stanford, Tyler Morse opened up his outdoor campaign with a 5,000-meter time of 14:26 to place 11th in his section. Running the 5K at EIU, Jeff Bajema and Paul Steeno record times of 15:07 and 15:15 for fifth and seventh, respectively, while Sean Senf posted a 5,000-meter time of 15:28.
Jesse Hahne ran to a 32-second personal-best 10K Âtime of 30:45 at the San Francisco distance carnival.
Javar Cruz clocked a 400-meter hurdles time of 54.54 to finish seventh, while Jalen Lewis ran 55.69 to take 11th at EIU. Michael Jopes won his 400-meter hurdle heat withÂÂ a time of 57.34 at the Big Blue Invite, while Antonio Foster rounded out the Redbird 400-meter hurdles crew with a time of 58.18. The foursome raced to a school-record 4x400-meter shuttle hurdles relay time of 3:44.36.
Women's Track
Competing on the west coast, Kim Christensen recorded a 10,000-meter time of 36:03 to place sixth at the San Francisco State distance carnival, while Ariel Michalek opened with a personal-best steeplechase time of 10:21, finishing first in her heat.
Kelly McShea ran unattached, posting a steeplechase time of 10:13.
At Eastern Illinois, Ashley England clocked a personal-best 5K time of 17:40 to finish fifth, while Haley Verbeke ran to a time of 17:58 for a top-10 finish. Competing in San Francisco, Haley Goers clocked a 5K time of 17:15.
Katelyn Hill opened up her outdoor season with a 400-meter hurdles time of 1:08.31 to finish 12th.
Camila Dayson-Aravena competed in the women's heptathlon, scoring 3,192 points.
Men's Field
AJ Marmion tossed a mark of 42.53 meters (139-06) in the hammer throw, while teammate Evan Garretson heaved a mark of 40.62 meters (133-03).
Tomorrow's competition begins at 10 a.m. with field events, while the running events are slated for an 11 a.m. start time.
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