Day 2's ESPN+ Coverage

MURRAY, Ky. – University of Evansville senior Joey Rucinski (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) and freshman Denzel Lasam (St. Louis, Mo./De Smet Jesuit) placed second in the pole vault and triple jump events respectively on Friday to lead the Purple Aces' track and field teams at the Margaret Simmons Invitational in Murray, Kentucky.

Rucinski finished second in the pole vault event with a height of 4.05 meters (13'3").  Lasam, meanwhile, posted a personal-best mark of 13.75 meters (45'1.5") to place second in the triple jump.  Lasam's triple jump mark ranks him as the fourth-best student-athlete in UE history in the outdoor triple jump, as he tied Jerry Knight's jump from 1972 in the Evansville record book.

"Both Joey and Denzel are two of the hardest workers that we have in our program," said UE head track and field coach Don Walters.  "Every time they go out, they expect to get better, so I am not surprised at all that they were able to place second today.  Joey will always give you everything he has when he competes, and Denzel just has a tremendous attitude and is always striving to be better."

With only 11 members of the team competing on the first day of events, Evansville posted four personal-best marks, including Lasam's triple jump distance.  Rucinski also set a new personal-best mark in the discus with a distance of 37.86 meters (124'2").  Fellow senior Andrew Schuler (Ferdinand, Ind./Forest Park) also set a personal-best mark in the hammer throw with a toss of 38.89 meters (127'7"), while junior Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind./Princeton Community) destroyed his personal standard in the hammer toss with a throw of 45.25 meters (148'5") to place eighth overall.  Dove's toss was more than four meters further than his previous-best mark.

Place-wise, senior Mike Boots (Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei) finished sixth in the discus with a team-best toss of 45.77 meters (150'2"), while Dove placed seventh with a throw of 45.51 meters (149'3").  Senior McKenna Sapp (Bloomington, Ill./University) also placed seventh in the women's pole vault event with a height of 3.05 meters (10'0").

The Margaret Simmons Invitational will continue on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. with field events.  Track events will begin at noon.  Saturday's action can be seen live on ESPN+.