Track and Field Opens 2017 at Hawkeye Invitational

Leathernecks set three new top-ten marks in 2017 opener

COMPLETE RESULTS

IOWA CITY, IOWA – In the first meet of 2017, the Western Illinois track and field team set three new all-time top-ten marks as they competed at the Hawkeye Invitational on Saturday (Jan. 14). The meet was hosted by Iowa in the U of I Recreation Center.

Besides the Hawkeyes, the Leathernecks competed against teams from Iowa Central, Iowa Western, Drake, Northern Iowa, Iowa State, and Summit League foe South Dakota.

"I saw some encouraging signs of life today," said head coach Mike Stevenson. "The first meet back in January comes for us following only five days of practice and that is after a four week layoff. It is tough to be very sharp in that situation, but some of our athletes answered the bell. Hopefully we can shake some of the rust loose in the next few weeks and start to gel into the team we can be by mid-February."

After running a preliminary time of 6.87 that ranked third in program history, Malachi Adams raced to a win in the 60-meter dash with a finals time of 6.79 that placed him second on the all-time top-ten list. He then clocked a time of 22.21 in the 200-meter to rank ninth in program history.

Freshman Bo Brasseur leaped her way into the Western Illinois record books with a personal-best of 18-6 (5.64) in the long jump to rank 10th all-time.

In his Leatherneck debut, Josh Pestka finished second in the 800 with a time of 1:56.52. Alyssa Johnson clocked a time of 1:36.02 in the 600 to placed third overall.

Khaliya Lawson leaped to a second-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 38-2 (11.63m), while Tevin Taylor tied his personal best in the triple jump of 43-10 1/2 (13.37m) to place third.

In the throws, Brad Walls made the finals of the weight throw and tossed a new personal-best of over a foot (53-9 1/4, 16.39m) to finish seventh. Allison Richter won her shot put flight with a new personal record of 41-1 3/4 (12.54m) to placed ninth.

Kaliyah Cobb led the way in the sprints for the women's team, placing fifth in the 200 with a time of 25.90 and ninth in the 60 (7.98).

The Purple and Gold travel to Columbia, MO next week for the Tiger Invitational, hosted by Mizzou on Friday, Jan. 20.

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