INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The University of Evansville track and field team opened their second indoor season with a solid showing in the UIndy Opener Saturday in Indianapolis, with several competitors finishing tops in their events.

"I'm impressed", said University of Evansville track and field head coach Don Walters. "I look back at last year's inaugural team, remembering how we competed, we've come a long way in a short period of time. I went around talking to parents and coaches and we were all just impressed with the progress." 

On the track, junior Stanley Chepchieng took the top spot in the 800 meters, with a time of 2:00:11. The freshman trio of Carson Kline, Kyle Thieme and Kaleb Slagel finished ninth, 13th and 15th, respectively. In the men's 400 meters, senior Everett Plocek took second place with a time of 55.79, with freshman Joey Rucinski finishing just behind Plocek in third, with a time of 57.19. Junior Enrique Hendrix was the top Evansville finisher in the men's mile, with a time of 4:43: 26, good enough for a fourth place finish. Sophomore Tyler Fields-Reitstech finished fifth, while freshman Kaleb Slagle and junior Dawson Tucker finished ninth and 12th respectively. Peter Blok smashed the program record in both the 200 meters and the 400 meters, with times of 24.14 and 54.51, respectively.

In the field for the men, freshman Nick Ryan delivered in his first collegiate competition, won the long jump competition with a jump of 6.45 meters, edging out teammate and fellow freshman, Alan Kersteins, who finished second with a jump of 6.42 meters. Two other Aces newcomers, Cody Line and Khalid Moran finished tenth and eleventh, respectively. Chepchieng just missed out on another first place finish in the triple jump, finishing second with an attempt of 13.40 meters. In the throwing competition, senior Ryan Freeman took a pair of eleventh place finishes, going 12.76 meters in the shot put and and 12.23 meters in the weight throw, both were record breakers, which he possessed from last season.

On the women's side, sophomore runner Anna Lowry delivered an impressive performance in the mile event, taking top honors with a time of 5:36:05. Freshman teammate Savanna Mills took third place, with a time of 6:05:97, while fellow freshman Emma Boebringer was sixth. In the women's 200 meters, sophomore Monica Watkins broke the school record with a time of 28.30. Freshman Sierra Kelly finished just behind Watkins with a solid time of 28.96. Freshman Hayley Hormeyer was the top Evansville finisher in the 400 meters, with a time of 1:03:77, good enough for sixth place. Freshman Hayley Dean also finished in the top ten, with a time of 1:04:63. Sophomore Lauren Meyer had the best time for the Aces in the 800 meters, with a time of 2:36:52. Freshman Taiza Alexander broke the program record with a time of 8.18 in the 60 meters.

In the field, freshman Taiza Alexander shattered the school record in the long jump with a distance of 4.87 meters. Fellow freshman Skyler McKenna finished fifth overall. Freshman McKenna Sapp finished tied for fifth in the pole vault with a school record  attempt of 3.21 meters. Freshman Erin Nixon was also a record breaker in the high jump, with a leap of 1.42 meters, good enough for seventh place. Fellow freshman Ah'tahja Hooper finished just behind Nixon in eighth, with a jump of 1.37 meters.   

The Aces indoor track and field team will be back in action Saturday January 19th, when they compete in the Mastadon Invitational in Fort Wayne, Ind.

 

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