February 21, 2024: Day 1 of of the 2024 Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championship

Michael Wade

Big OVC Meet by Adams Leads WIU Women

Friday, February 23, 2024 | By: WIU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Leatherneck women third, men fifth at league meet

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA – It was a historic two days for the Western Illinois men's and women's indoor track and field programs this week.

Not only were the Leathernecks competing in the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Meet for the first time, but the program brought back some hardware and established new school records.

Leading the way for the Leathernecks was Aliyah Adams. Adams proved herself to be queen of the jumps, capturing the long jump title on Wednesday and the triple jump on Thursday.

On Wednesday, in the women's long jump, Adams and Renee Raglin set the tone for the meet, finishing first and second in the event. Adams's best effort was 19 feet, 1.5 inches (5.83 meters) while Raglin's top mark was 18-10.75 (5.76 meters).

On Thursday, Adams proved herself up for the challenge once again, taking home the triple jump title with a best of 40-7 (12.37 meters). WIU doubled up in that event as well as Nakeita Kessling was eighth with a best of 37-8 (11.48 meters)

Adams did not only dominate in the field but the track as well. She added a silver to go with her two golds, finishing second in the 60-meter hurdles. In the event, Adams set a new program record of 8.61, finishing second in a photo finish to Brianna Dixon of SEMO. Bria Armstrong gave the Leathernecks more points in the 60 hurdles, finishing fifth in 8.86.

Adams became the first Leatherneck woman to earn an indoor conference title since Bo Brasseur won the Summit League long jump in 2020. Adams is the first double-event indoor winner since Dana LaRue won the shot put and weight throw in 2013. For her efforts, Adams was named Female Athlete of the Championship.

"Aliyah capped off an exceptional indoor season by breaking the 60-meter hurdle record, again, and winning both horizontal jumps," WIU coach Trey Brokaw said. "She has such a strong work ethic and is one of the most talented student-athletes in the conference. Coach Tarpley has done a great job developing her and Aliyah took advantage of her opportunities this weekend. A year ago, she didn't score a single point in any event; this year she nearly won three events. What a great example for our large, talented group of freshmen to follow. The next step in Aliyah's career is qualifying for the NCAA National Championships and I believe her and Coach Tarpley have a great chance to do that this outdoor season."

As a whole, it was a big meet for the Leatherneck women, who finished third overall, scoring 78 points. The 78 points were the most for the program since scoring 122.5 in 2007. The third-place finish was also the best for the WIU women's indoor program since 2007 when the squad was third. SEMO won the meet with 224 points.

The Leatherneck women ended the day on an emphatic note, finishing second in the 4x400 relay. The group of Briza Dure, Nakeita Kessling, Passion Crews, and Jolena Site set a new program record in the event, finishing in 3:49.76. The new record tops the 3:50.02 set in 2017.

"Our women's 4x400 relay school record was really special," Brokaw said. "Those four girls struggled in their individual events this weekend but they stepped up to finish our championship very strong.

"That's a testament to their character and determination. We are all very proud of the way they represented our program. It was the perfect exclamation point on a successful indoor track and field season."

On the men's side, Western Illinois finished fifth, scoring 48 points. Little Rock won the meet with 180 points. The 48 points for the Leatherneck men were the most since 2014 when the team finished with 78.

On Wednesday, Toriano Tate started the scoring points for the Leathernecks, finishing fourth in the men's long jump. Tate had a best leap of 24-0.75 (7.33 meters).

The women's distance medley team of Meg Simmons, Monique Remy, Passion Crews, and Lydia Bennett scored a pair of points, finishing seventh in 12:45.65.

Arnie Grunert also scored for Western Illinois on Wednesday, finishing third in the pole vault. Grunert had a best height of 16 feet (4.88 meters).

The Leatherneck men's distance medley relay team of Sean Hudspath, Isaac Jones, Jeremie Bokata, and Mohammed Baghati capped Wednesday with a fifth-place finish of 10:21.41.

In Thursday's portion of the meet, Maleigha Huston was the first athlete to score, finishing fourth in the women's mile. Huston hung around for the bulk of the race before defending champion, Taylor Fox of SEMO pulled away. Huston finished in 5:03.93. Huston was not done, adding an eighth in the 800, scoring a point with her 2:19.43.

Huston was not the lone Leatherneck to score in the mile and 800 as Logan Lommel finished fourth. Lommel led the bulk of the mile but was passed in the final 400. The Western Illinois distance specialist finished with a time of 4:12.13. In the 800, Lommel finished third, crossing with a 1:53.14. Lommel added another scoring effort for the Leathernecks, finishing sixth in the 3000 with a time of 8:28.41.

Isaac Jones also gave the Leathernecks points in the 800, finishing fourth, with a time of 1:54.07. Jones put together a heroic effort, sprinting out of the start and building a solid lead over the first 600 meters before finally getting caught in the final 200. The Western Illinois sophomore set the pace for the field, before fading late.

In the men's 200, one day after setting a program record in the event, Lucas Burmeister outdid himself, setting a new program record to finish second. In Wednesday's prelims, Burmeister ran the fastest time of the event, crossing in 21.58. In Thursday's finals, Burmeister outran himself, finishing second in 21.44, .01 back of event winner, Frankie Grey of Little Rock.

In the men's 400, freshman Jaiden Young also scored for the Leathernecks, finishing sixth in the event. Young crossed the finish line in 48.68.

In the women's 60 meters, Raglin was also not done for the Leathernecks. Coming off a strong Wednesday performance, Raglin hopped on the podium once again, finishing third in the event in 7.66.

In the women's 3000, Aylana Cezar gave the Leathernecks points as well, finishing fourth in the event. Cezar ran a season-best, crossing in 10:01.45.

In the women's pole vault, a trio of Leathernecks racked up points for the team. Dana Surwillo led the way, finishing fifth overall with a best vault of 11-09.75 (3.6 meters). Colleen Johnson was right behind her, finishing sixth with the same height. Emma Ponx added a seventh in the event with a best effort of 11-03.75 (3.45 meters).

In the men's triple jump, Alessandro Belluz capped WIU's day in the field with a seventh-place finish, scoring a pair of points. Belluz's best effort was 47-5 (14.46 meters).

In the men's heptathlon, Matthew Thomas earned the men's squad a point, finishing eighth with 4520 points. Thomas' best performance came in the 60 hurdles, where he finished fourth.

In the women's pentathlon, Cadence Stanley also scored a point, finishing eighth with 2265 points. Stanley's best events were the shot put and long jump, events she finished fourth.

"I was really proud of the way our teams competed this weekend," Brokaw said. "It was the highest our women's team has finished at an indoor conference championship since 2007. On the men's side, it was the most team points we have scored in a decade."

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