BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In the second meet of two this weekend the University of Evansville track and field team swept a podium and had multiple personal bests.

The Purple Aces men's team swept the 800-meter race on Saturday afternoon in the team's final meet of the weekend. UE had a variety of PRs along with the packed 800-meter podium in the team's return to competition after two weeks away. Sophomore Tomasso Losma (Lombardia, Italy) PR'd in the 800 with a time of 1:53.85 for Evansville's second first place finish of the weekend.

SPRINTS, HURDLES, & RELAYS
The Aces began the day with the women's and men's 60-meter dash. Sophomore Taylor Johnson (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS) had UE's fastest finish in the first event at 8.10 seconds. Freshman Clara Kelty (Louisville, Ky. / Presentation Academy) ran her first collegiate 60-meter dash in 8.79 seconds. In the men's 60-meter dash junior José Ocampo (Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico) set a PR at 7.24 seconds while freshman Zander Pickens (Poseyville, Ind. / North Posey HS) ran a 7.48 second dash.

Junior Kate Walke (Batesville, Ind. / Oldenburg Academy) ran the 60-meter hurdles in 9.58 seconds for UE's last early morning event on the track. Evansville's sprinters didn't return to action until early afternoon as sophomore Chase Hayes (Noblesville, Ind. / Western HS) ran the 400-meter race in 1:01.42. The Aces last individual sprint races of the day were the women and men's 200-meter dash.

Johnson finished the 200-meter two tenths of a second behind her PR at 25.49 seconds for 16^th. UE had three sprinters in the men's 200-meters as sophomore Raymond Felton III (Houston / Clear Brook HS) led the pack with a time of 21.96 seconds. Freshman Myles Terry (Evansville, Ind. / North HS) finished just off his personal best at 22.46 seconds while sophomore Connor Shin (Bloomington, Ind. / Bloomington North HS) rounded out the group at 22.68 seconds.

Evansville finished the weekend with three 4x400 relay teams. The women's team of Johnson, Hayes, Bryan, and Anthis finished in 4:17.90 in their first relay of the season. The Aces men's team of sprinters Shin, Ocampo, Felton III, and Terry won their heat in 3:24.19 for eighth place. While UE's 4x400 team of mid-distance runners Nowicki, Oulgout, Rodriguez, and Losma finished in 3:26.00 for 11^th place.

MID-DISTANCE & DISTANCE
After the early morning sprint events Evansville returned to the track for the 600-meter race where senior Hannah Bryan (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS) finished in the top 25 with a time of 1:48.93. Freshman Kadin McAllister (Lilburn, Ga. / Parkview HS) led the Aces' men for a 14^th place finish in 1:24.36. Sophomore Samuel Lea (Worchester, England) finished just behind McAllister in 16^th with a time of 1:25.97. Freshman Andrew Potter (Warsaw, Ind. / Warsaw Community HS) was UE's final runner in the 600 at 1:30.26.

Evansville's mid-distance runners followed up with the mile race shortly after. In the women's mile sophomore Avery Stephens (Newburg, Ind. / Castle HS) finished in 5:30.83. While freshman Bekah Sachs (Milwaukee / Milwaukee School of Languages) set a PR at 5:41.71.

During the men's mile sophomore Owen Cuplin (Hampshire, Ill. / Hampshire HS) set a PR while finishing third in his heat for a Top 15 finish at 4:24.28. Sophomores Jakub Nowicki (Poznan, Poland) and Woody Burrell (Cedarburg, Wis. / Cedarburg HS) also finished the mile in 4:36.53 and 4:38.87 respectively.

The Aces best race of the weekend came midafternoon with the women and men's 800-meter race. Freshman Lauren Bradley (Russiaville, Ind. / Western HS) paced the UE women at 2:30.44 for a Top 20 finish. Sophomore Kyndall Anthis (Pakota, Ind. / Princeton Community HS) finished shortly behind with a time of 2:32.97.  Freshman Skylar Dickenson (Brownsburg, Ind. / Brownsburg HS) completed the women's 800 at 2:35.28.

The Evansville men finished one, two, and three in the 800 for the team's second podium sweep of the indoor season. Losma's PR helped him take the top spot while sophomore Rafael Rodriguez (Sergovia, Spain) was two tenths of a second behind at 1:54.00. Senior Adam Oulgout (St. Paul, Minn. / North Central HS) rounded out the podium at 1:54.07.

The Aces final distance run of the day was the men's 3,000-meter race. Freshman Oliver Wilgocki (Chesterton, Ind. / Chesterton HS) set a PR at 9:21.62 for 18^th place. Junior Alejandro Navarrete (Mogadore, Ohio / Mogadore HS) finished the 3K in 10:06.52 to end UE's day in distance.
 
JUMPS
Freshman jumper Samuel Mubiamunda (Hurst, Texas / L.D. Bell HS) came just shy of his PR in the high jump from the beginning of the season in Birmingham. Mubiamund hit 1.86 meters with his final jump of the afternoon. While senior Antwaun Powell (Ringgold, Ga. / Heritage HS) competed in his first collegiate triple jump on Saturday afternoon at 11.39 meters.

THROWS
Evansville's throwers began the morning with the men's and women's shot put. Freshman Beau Baldwin (Mt. Vernon HS) had the furthest shot put throw at 10.29 meters while junior Holland Morris (Florence, Ky. / Randall K. Cooper HS) set a PR at 10.18 meters. Freshman Jack Hawkins threw for 9.86 meters and senior Katilyn Sansone (Fairfield, Ohio / Mercy McAuley HS) threw for 8.12 meters to finish Evansville's shot put entries.

Two Aces throwers also set PRs in the weight throw in the afternoon. Sophomore Tyler Cherne (Boardman, Ohio / Boardman HS) finished in the Top 15 with a personal best of 15.77 meters. Freshman Emma Bertel (Franklin, Ind. / Franklin Community HS) improved on her PR by almost two meters at 12.10. Baldwin threw 11.85 meters on the men's side while junior Gwen Darrah (Cleveland, Ohio / Orange HS) wrapped up UE's day in the field with a throw of 13.26 meters.

UP NEXT 
A handful of Evansville's team will compete at the Indoor Music City Challenge hosted by Vanderbilt next week. The full Aces team will be back in action at the John Gartland Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Terre Haute.