Skip To Main Content

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

Western Illinois University Athletics

Track and Field

Ackeen Colley Captures Fourth 800m Conference Title At Outdoor Championships

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

Colley was one of many highlights for Western Illinois at the 2022 Summit League Outdoor Championships.

TULSA, OKLA.- Western Illinois track and field concluded its final meet as a team at the 2022 Summit League Outdoor Championships. The Leathernecks ended the season with personal records, school records, and an individual conference championship in their final meet of the season. Fans can view the full results from the championships here.
 
"I'm really proud of the way our student-athletes competed this weekend. We took a big step forward as a program after a difficult indoor conference meet in February," said Head Coach Trey Brokaw. "The talent has been there, and many athletes finally took that step forward, scoring points at their first conference meet.
 
Ackeen Colley added another accolade to his impressive collegiate career, taking first place in the 800m. Colley ended with a time of 1:49.19 to win his fourth Summit League 800m conference race to give Western Illinois 10 points. Colley is the third Leatherneck with multiple outdoor 800m conference wins and the eighth ever in Summit League history. He joins Zach Somer and Tony Taylor as the only Leathernecks with multiple outdoor 800m conference victories.
 
Colley also competed on the men's 4x400 relay team along with Richard Brown, Logan Lommel, and Lucas Hofer. The squad took fourth place with a time of 3:17.38 to score five points.
 
"Ackeen once again led the way for our team. He had a fairly easy win in the men's 800 and was just off the conference record," said Brokaw. "The hot conditions caused him to cramp up in the last 50 meters while anchoring the 4x400 relay. We would have finished second but ended up fourth after. Lucas Hofer (47-low) and Richard Brown (48-mid leading off) had very impressive legs on that 4x400 to capture points for the team."
 
Hofer also qualified for the 800m finals after placing fifth in the preliminaries with a time of 1:52.53 to place fifth. Hofer managed to bump up his time in the finals to 1:51.69 to take sixth place and give WIU three points.
 
"He's Mr. Consistent, always finding a way to make the final in the men's 800," said Brokaw. "I thought he was ready for a 1:49 race but the pacing just wasn't there for it. He had a great year and, I'm excited to see him take that next step and contend for conference titles next year."
 
Capping off the men's team was Lommel with a pair of record-breaking performances in the 1500m and 3000m steeplechase. In the 1500m, Lommel set a new best time of 3:51.31 to place seventh and score two points for the Leathernecks. Lommel's time bumped him up to the fourth-fastest 1500m time in program history. In the 3000m steeplechase, he placed sixth with a personal best of 9:19.07 to score three points. His time in the 3000m steeplechase is also ranked the fourth-fastest in school history. Lommel is the first Leatherneck to score points in the 3000m steeplechase since Eric Anerino in 2010.
 
"Logan really made some huge strides this championship. His fitness and race execution are starting to match," said Brokaw. "He was ranked ninth coming into the steeplechase this weekend and finished sixth, scoring points for the team. Doubling back the next day in the 1500, he was ranked 13th on the performance list coming into the weekend but finished seventh. In both races, his times were big personal bests and put him top-four in WIU school history. Showing his incredible range, the third race for Logan this weekend was on our 4x400 meter relay. He's an impressive runner and I'm excited to see him take the next steps forward as a collegiate runner, winning some conference titles and hopefully qualifying for the NCAA Championships. He certainly has the talent and work ethic to do it."
 
Freshman Maleigha Huston was the major highlight amongst the entire women's championships with a third-place finish in the 800m. Huston was ranked 13th in the conference coming into the championships but jumped up 10 spots. Huston finished eighth in the 800m preliminaries with a time of 2:11.66 to qualify for the finals on Saturday. Huston bumped up her time to a personal best of 2:10.48 to finish with the fourth-fastest outdoor 800m time in school history. Huston is the first all-conference performer in the 800m since Alyssa Johnson in 2017.
 
"This weekend we had three women score. That's huge and our women's team doubled their team point total because of it," said Brokaw. "Maleigha led the way for us. She was ranked 13th on the performance list coming into the 800 this weekend. Not only did she make a final, but she also placed third in a very talented finals field, improving her personal best by over three seconds in the process. She ran so smart in both the prelim and the final. I couldn't be any prouder of the way she represented the program."
 
Freshman Madison Trevena began the championships for WIU in the women's 10000m on Thursday and scored two points for the team after placing eighth overall. Trevena finished with a time of 39:05.83 in her first ever 10000m race. Trevena also competed in the 5000m on Friday and took 10th overall with a time of 18:09.28.
 
"Madison also helped lead the way for the women's team," said Brokaw. "She had a monster double, scoring in her first ever 10,000 meter race and nearly doubling back to score in the 5,000 as well. Maddie was in the top-eight in the 5,000 until 200 meters to go. She gave it her all and was one of the most talented freshmen in the distance field this weekend. She put in a lot of miles this year and that really paid off this weekend."
 
Jasmine Stokes was Western Illinois' final athlete on the women's team to score points with a new personal best in the hammer throw. Stokes' best distance was 50.72m (166' 5") to place eighth overall in Tulsa.
 
"Jasmine rounded out our women's individual scorers. As the team captain and a senior, it was so nice to see Jasmine finally score at the conference championships," said Brokaw. "She plans to come back next year which is very good for our program."
 
The women's 4x400 relay team of Zwandi Harrison, Kristina Petrou, Huston, and Briza Dure scored the final point for the women's team by taking eighth with a time of 3:59.40.
 
Dure just missed out on qualifying for the 200m finals after taking 10th overall but still finished with a major milestone. Dure ended with a personal best time of 24.80 seconds, breaking the Paraguay u-23 national record.
 
Western Illinois now awaits to see which athletes will qualify for the NCAA West Regional Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., from Wednesday (May 25) through Saturday (May 28).
 
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Now Playing:

Related Stories