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Men's Track and Field

Leathernecks finish Lee Calhoun in third and seventh

MACOMB, Ill.  -  The Western Illinois track and field team saw two individual champions and 17 top-five finishes in the final day of the 21st annual Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational with the men taking third place and the women seventh overall Saturday.

“Overall this was a great weekend,” Western Illinois interim head coach Matt Morris said. “We really increased the size of the meet and the kids competed really well. Having the Calhoun family and the Olympians here today, with such beautiful weather, and tough competition made the meet all that more exciting.”

Eastern Illinois won on both the men's and women's sides while Augustana took second on the men's side. The Leathernecks finished just ahead of Iowa. On the women's side Marquette took second, IPFW landed third, Augustana took fourth, St. Ambrose was fifth and Iowa finished just ahead of Western.

Senior Eric Anerino became the Fighting Leathernecks' first individual champion of the day as he took first place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:36.76. Just behind Anerino, teammate Luke Miller secured second place with a time of 9:42.30. In the women's steeplechase Heather Wetzel and Alycia Thurston placed eighth and ninth, respectively.

Sophomore Amy Byers finished the 400-meter hurdles in 1:02.20, good enough for first place of 22 runners. In the same event, senior Katie Jay took third place with a time of 1:03.38 and sophomore Miranda Brockman landed fourth place in 1:04.02.

“We had a lot of personal bests because our kids ran out of their minds,” Morris said. “We had great team chemistry. Eric (Anerino) Luke Miller, Amy (Byers), Katie Jay and Miranda Brockman all went into really solid fields and did an excellent job. They came to compete and really stood out. This was the weekend we were looking for to see where we're at and now it's a matter of looking at the film and getting better.”

In the men's 400-meter hurdles, senior Brian Pinta took a piece of second-place as he tied with Patrick Tortorici from Eastern Illinois with a time of 53.86. Freshman Matt Leal also finished in the top-10 of the event, placing ninth with a time of 55.56.

Of 54 runners in the 200-meter dash Western Illinois senior Ray Richardson took fourth place with a time of 22.42. Kyle Austin also finished in the top 20 percent as he tied for 11th place with a time of 22.77. Richardson also recorded a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter dash in 10.71. In the women's 100-meter dash, freshman Danielle Gunn finished in the top half (9th place) with a time of 12.60.

Freshman Alexis Atkins' time of 15.68 in the women's 100-meter hurdles gave her a ninth-place finish. Senior Jeremy Streator finished the men's 400-meter dash in 50.61 for 10th place.

In relays, sophomore Nykeese Griffin and seniors Richardson, Paul Anderson and Kyle Austin combined for fourth place in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 42.08. Western's women's 4x400-relay team of Miranda Brockman, Katie Jay, Amy Byers and Julie Dietsch took second place of 12 teams with a time of 3:53.17. The men's 4x400 team of seniors Jeremy Streater, Richardson, Pinta and sophomore Mike Hemming took fourth of 19 teams with a time of 3:19.27.

In men's field events Lawrence Hardin lost the tiebreaker for first as he took second place in the high jump, reaching a height of 6'09.75” (2.08m). In the shot put, sophomore Jason Crisman hit a mark of 51'09.25” (15.78m) for second place behind the champion from Iowa, Matt Banse, who won with 52'07.25” (16.03m). Western's Paul Hames and Brayden Sherrick took fourth and fifth in the shot put as Hames had a mark of 49'08.25” (15.14m) and Sherrick recorded 49'07.00” (15.11m).

Sherrick went on to take ninth place in the men's discus throw as Jesse Bernhardt placed sixth overall in the men's javelin throw with a distance of 165-08 (50.49m).

Brianne Marriot led in the field for the women as she tied for third place in the pole vault, reaching 11'05.25”  (3.49m). Senior Faith Chew finished just behind Marriot with a height of 10'11.50” (3.34m). Jessica Ortega finished in seventh place of 39 competitors in the shot put with a distance of 42'03.25” (12.88m). Freshman Katelyn Moore also recorded a top-10 finish as she went 33'04.00” (10.16m) in the women's triple jump. In the women's discus, Lizzy Jones finished in the top half with a distance of 128-06 (39.16m).

Running unattached and not contributing to the Western Illinois score, redshirt-senior Nikki Klier won both the 400-meter dash and the 200-meter dash and set a new meet record in the 400-meter dash. Her time of 54.40 broke the previous 400-meter time of 54.67 set in 1998. She finished the 200-meter dash in 25 seconds flat, totaling two individual championship titles on the day. Also running unattached, alum Mary Kate Jackson took sixth place in the women's 1500-meter run with a time of 4:46.65. Also unattached was Western Illinois freshman Davin Dollison, who won the men's triple jump as he went 14.59m.

The Western Illinois track and field squads will compete next at the Iowa Invitational in Iowa City, Saturday, April 17.
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Players Mentioned

Luke Miller

Luke Miller

DISTANCE
Senior
Clinton
Julie Dietsch

Julie Dietsch

SPRINTS
Junior
Rock Island
Jessica Ortega

Jessica Ortega

THROWS
Junior
Elk Grove
Eric Anerino

Eric Anerino

DISTANCE
Senior
Naperville North
Nikki Klier

Nikki Klier

SPRINTS
Senior
Jacobs
Brian Pinta

Brian Pinta

JUMPS
Senior
Wheaton North
Katie Jay

Katie Jay

DISTANCE
Senior
Ottumwa
Jeremy Streater

Jeremy Streater

SPRINTS
Junior
Proviso West
Lizzy Jones

Lizzy Jones

THROWS
Sophomore
Minooka Community
Paul Anderson

Paul Anderson

SPRINTS
Senior
Alton
Nykeese Griffin

Nykeese Griffin

SPRINTS
Sophomore
Plainfield
Miranda Brockman

Miranda Brockman

HURDLES
Sophomore
Rock Falls

Players Mentioned

Luke Miller

Luke Miller

Senior
Clinton
DISTANCE
Julie Dietsch

Julie Dietsch

Junior
Rock Island
SPRINTS
Jessica Ortega

Jessica Ortega

Junior
Elk Grove
THROWS
Eric Anerino

Eric Anerino

Senior
Naperville North
DISTANCE
Nikki Klier

Nikki Klier

Senior
Jacobs
SPRINTS
Brian Pinta

Brian Pinta

Senior
Wheaton North
JUMPS
Katie Jay

Katie Jay

Senior
Ottumwa
DISTANCE
Jeremy Streater

Jeremy Streater

Junior
Proviso West
SPRINTS
Lizzy Jones

Lizzy Jones

Sophomore
Minooka Community
THROWS
Paul Anderson

Paul Anderson

Senior
Alton
SPRINTS
Nykeese Griffin

Nykeese Griffin

Sophomore
Plainfield
SPRINTS
Miranda Brockman

Miranda Brockman

Sophomore
Rock Falls
HURDLES