SOUTH BEND, IND. - The Western Illinois indoor track and field teams wrapped up the two-day Meyo Invitational located on the campus of Notre Dame on Feb. 6-7.
For the Westerwinds, senior ChrisDell Harris had the highest finish, taking third in the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.53. Junior Nikki Klier finished the weekend with two top-ten performances with a ninth-place finish in the 400-meter dash (56.39) and a 10th-place finish in the 300-meter dash (40.44), breaking the school record in the event.
In the 500-meter dash, freshman Amy Byers finished 16th with a time of 1:17.09, ranking fourth all time in the Western Illinois record book in the event. In the same event, junior Katie Jay now ranks ninth all time in the Western Illinois record book in the event as she finished with a time of 1:19.49 for 28th place.
In women's field events, freshman Dana LaRue took 11th in the shot put (43'03.75'') and 16th in the weight throw (47'05.75'').
For the Leathernecks, seniors Kevin Deegan and Jared Schmidt rank second and seventh all time in the Western Illinois record book as they finished the 800-meter run in eight place (1.51.03) and 28th place (1:53.90).
It was also a record setting night for senior Josh Schupbach in the pole as he now ranks 10th in the event with a mark of 4.65m (14'06.00'') for a 24th-place finish.
The Western Illinois indoor track and field teams will be back in action at the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 13-14 in Ames, Iowa.
Postmeet quotes
Western Illinois head coach Mike Stevenson
On the teams overall performance
“I think today the athletes responded very well. They were a little flat yesterday after a five-hour bus ride before competing yesterday, but they bounced back well and had some really good performances, including some top-10 (Western Illinois record book) performances. This meet was a good stepping stone for some of our athletes going into the last couple of meets of the season.”
On how the team is progressing going into the last two weeks of the season
“I think we have been taking steps in the right directions, sometimes baby steps, but you can't have perfect outings at every meet. We suffer from a lack of depth, so it's going to be tough in the conference meet against some teams with larger rosters.”
“I think the athletes really took a big step this weekend in getting better because the meet was competitive and they had the opportunity to compete against some larger schools, by competing against these schools, it takes a lot of pressure of the athletes heading into the last few weeks of the season”
