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SIUE Track and Field Cougar Classic: 04-13-24: SIUE Track and Field host the the Cougar Classic at Ralph Korte Stadium on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Saturday, April 13, 2024. (Photo: Scott Kane/SIUE Athletics)
Scott Kane

Western Illinois Track and Field to Compete at OVC Meet

Leathernecks push for conference championships

MACOMB – The Western Illinois men's and women's outdoor track and field programs begin the postseason this week, heading to Charleston, Illinois and the campus of Eastern Illinois University for the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Meet.

The Leathernecks make their OVC Outdoor Meet debut with hopes of placing high as individuals and as a team.

"We're really excited for the conference championships this weekend. The team is ready to compete. We're confident that they can do quite well in their first outdoor Ohio Valley Conference meet," Western Illinois coach Trey Brokaw said. "On paper, our men are sitting in the middle of the pack, while our women are sitting third out of 11 teams. That's about where we finished indoors but of course we're looking to improve on our indoor placing. For our student-athletes from Illinois, they will get back on a familiar track & field facility since Eastern Illinois is also host to the IHSA state championships. Like our Iowa contingent who performs well at the Drake Relays, I'm sure the Illinois natives will step it up a notch as well this weekend."

The Leathernecks were successful at the indoor meet as the women 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.
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. 

"We weren't quite able to have the outdoor schedule we wanted," Brokaw said. "Weather has affected many of our performances. Somehow middle distance, horizontal jumps, and pole vault have still been able to perform quite well and many of those student-athletes find themselves ranked towards the top of the conference standings. We had a very strong group of short sprinters indoors. We've added a few throwers on the women's side outdoors. If all the pieces can come together on the same weekend, we could end up with a very good team score. At the indoor conference championships it was the best team score we'd had in well over a decade. I think you could see the same result this weekend outdoors."


WHAT | OVC Outdoor Championships

WHEN | Thursday, Friday, Saturday

WHERE | Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois

STREAM | Thursday; Friday; Saturday

FOLLOW ALONG | Schedule; Live Results

SOCIAL MEDIA | Twitter; Facebook; Instagram

WHERE THEY STAND (OVC) | Heading into the meet, several Western Illinois athletes are in the top five in the OVC in times and distances. They are:
Maleigha Huston Women's 800 (1); 1500 (2)
Logan Lommel Men's 1500 (2); 3000 steeplechase (1)
Logan Beckmier Men's 10,000 (2)
Madison Trevena Women's 10,000 (2)
Sophia Myers Women's 100 hurdles (3); 400 hurdles (5)
Aylana Cezar Women's 3000 steeplechase (1)
Women's 4x100 relay Harvey, Adams, Dure, Raglin (4)
Women's 4x400 relay Remy, Kessling, Myers, Dure (2)
Arnie Grunert Men's Pole Vault (1)
Emma Ponx Women's Pole Vault (2)
Paulina Lucer Women's Pole Vault (4)
Toriano Tate Men's Long Jump (2)
Renee Raglin Women's Long Jump (1)
Aliyah Adams Women's Long Jump (2)
Aliyah Adams Women's Triple Jump (1)
Jasmine Stoke Women's Hammer Throw (3)

WHAT'S NEXT | After the OVC Meet, NCAA postseason begins Wednesday, May 22. Leatherneck qualifiers will compete in the NCAA West Region, held Fayetteville, Arkansas. In order to be selected to the West Preliminary Championships, athletes need to be amongst the top 48 in those respective regions in their respective college track and field events. Additionally, the top 24 relay teams will travel to those two sites.

WHERE THEY STAND (NCAA REGIONAL) | Leathernecks currently inside the top 50 in their events:
Arnie Grunert, Men's Pole Vault (20)
Toriano Tate, Men's Long Jump (47)
Renee Raglin, Women's Long Jump (37)
Aliyah Adams, Women's Triple Jump (43)

"Weather this weekend looks great," Brokaw said. "I'm hopeful a few more individuals can punch their ticket to the NCAA Regional Championships two weeks from now. Renee Raglin, long jump, and Aliyah Adams, triple jump, should be in for the women. Arnie Grunert, pole vault, and Toriano Tate, long jump, are in for now. We have many others who are borderline. The conference championships usually brings out the best in a competitor so it could be a perfect situation for those individuals to hit their mark or run their time to qualify."  

 
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