Live Stats

EVANSVILLE, Ind. –The University of Evansville track and field teams will open their indoor season on Saturday, as the Purple Aces will travel to Charleston, Illinois to take part in the John Craft Invitational hosted by Eastern Illinois University.

"We are really excited to get competition started," said UE head track and field coach Don Walters.  "We have a very veteran group this year, and some of our returners are doing better than ever before, so it will be exciting to see how we stack up. 

"I am also really excited to see how our newcomers stack up.  There is a lot of potential in some of our new members, and I really feel like we have more depth than we have before."

Evansville will begin its fifth official season of track and field with a veteran group that includes 20 seniors.  UE had its best outdoor season so far last spring, having posted the highest scoring mark on both the men's and women's sides in school history at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships last May.

On the men's side, senior Trey Riggs (Ft. Branch, Ind./Gibson Southern) set a school records in both the 60-meter hurdles and the long jump last winter, and hopes to break those records once again this year.  Meanwhile, the UE throwing corps of seniors Mike Boots (Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei HS), Andrew Schuler (Ferdinand, Ind./Forest Park HS), and Joey Rucinski (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran HS) and junior Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind./Princeton Community HS) has caught Coach Walters' eye in practice, and he expects big things from them.  Walters also believes that his sprinting corps could be his best yet.

"We have a lot of depth in our sprints on the men's side," said Walters.  "We could go about six deep there, which is a great sign, as I believe that our 4x100-meter relay team could be something special this year."

On the women's side, the Purple Aces are led by the MVC's reigning 5,000-meter indoor champion Anna Lowry (Taylorville, Ill./Taylorville HS).  Lowry will compete in the mile and the 3,000-meter event on Saturday to help pace UE on the track.  Senior Taiza Alexander (Berea, Ky./Berea Community HS) will lead UE's jumps contingent on the women's side in the long jump, while also sprinting in the 60-meter dash, after setting school records in both events last year.

The meet will begin at 10 a.m. central with the field events.  The track events will begin at 12:30 p.m.