LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Battling a cold, windy day, the University of Evansville track and field team still produced 10 personal-best marks and four podium finishes at Bellarmine's Jim Vargo Invitational on Saturday to wrap up the two-day meet.
Evansville posted first-place finishes in both the men's pole vault by senior Joey Rucinski (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) and the 4x100-meter relay team of seniors Brendon Smith (Newburgh, Ind./Castle) and Greg King (Indianapolis, Ind.), junior Giovanni Purser (Port Maria, Jamaica) and sophomore Geordan Blades (Avon, Ind./Avon). Junior Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind./Princeton Community) also placed second in the discus with a personal-best mark of 48.18 meters, while freshman Adam Oulgout (St. Paul, Minn./Central) placed third in the 800-meters with a time of 1:59.03.
"Considering the elements today, I am really proud of the effort by both teams," said UE head coach Don Walters. "To get four podium finishes and set 10 PRs on a day like today is incredible."
In addition to Dove's PR in the discus, Rucinski added a personal-best mark in the 110-meter hurdles (17.13) and the 100-meter dash (11.88). Freshman Denzel Lasam (St. Louis, Mo./De Smet Jesuit) also set a PR mark in the 100-meters at 11.76, while junior Jackson Maurer (Evansville, Ind./Gibson Southern) set a new PR in the 200-meters (24.07). Freshman Preston Riggs (Ft. Branch, Ind./Gibson Southern) and Justin Nichols (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy Orange) also set PRs in shot put (7.88 meters) and the 5,000-meters (17:37.11) respectively.
On the women's side, senior Sam Weldon (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger) and freshman Ellie Stewart (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard South) both set PR marks in the 1,500-meters with times of 5:10.23 and 5:29.76, respectively. Freshman Kara Yunker (Evansville, Ind./North) lowered her best time in the 100-meters with a time of 13.19 to place tenth overall.
Evansville will return to action next on Friday, as the Purple Aces will travel to Owensboro, Kentucky to take part in the Brescia Bearcat Invitational.
