IOWA CITY, Iowa – Western Illinois throwers Dana LaRue and Brayden Sherrick took first place in the shot put as the Fighting Leatherneck track and field team returned to action for the first time in 2010 at the Iowa Open.
LaRue took first place in the women's shot put with a mark of 13.37 meters (43-10.50), breaking her previous career-best mark of 13.36 meters (43-10.00) and moving into tenth place on the school's all-time top ten list.
"Dana was a huge highlight for us today," Western Illinois interim head coach Matt Morris said. "She performed extremely well in a tough field of competitors and gave us a big lift."
LaRue also took first place in her flight of the weight throw with a mark of 16.12 meters (52-10.75), setting a new personal record and moving in to seventh place on the school's all-time top-ten list.
Other top finishers on the women's side included ChrisDell Harris, who finished fifth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.82 seconds. Harris also finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.07 seconds and finished third in the long jump with a mark of 4.98 meters (16-04.25).
"ChrisDell looked really good on the track today," Morris said. "She ran in a really tough field that included some sprinters from the Jamaican national team so to see her perform so well in a loaded field was really encouraging."
On the men's side, Western was led by Brayden Sherrick, who finished first in the shot put with a mark of 14.44 meters (47-04.50), setting a new career-best mark. Sherrick also finished third in the weight throw with a mark of 15.85 meters (52-00.00).
"Brayden performed very well for us today in his events as well," Morris said. "It's not easy to come back after the holiday break and get right back in to competition but I think he did a really good job of getting himsel ready for this event."
The Iowa Open marked just the second event for the Leathernecks this season and the first in over a month.
"Overall we had a solid day today," Morris said. "I think everyone looked a little bit flat and that just has to do with so much down time in between meets. We made some strides today especially with our freshman. It's a pretty good start to the new year for us."
Western Illinois will return to action next weekend at the ISU Open at Iowa State University on Jan. 23.
