MACOMB, IL - Western Illinois Track and Field put together a strong showing at the Huskie Classic hosted by Northern Illinois University, highlighted by multiple event victories, personal records and all-time program marks.

On the men's side, freshman Kenneth Cooley had a breakout meet for the Leathernecks. Cooley won the 100-meter dash in a personal-best 10.43, moving him to No. 8 in program history. He followed that performance with another PR in the 200-meter dash, running 21.32 to place second and move to No. 6 all-time at Western Illinois.

Don Paul Keith added a pair of top-three sprint finishes, taking second in the 100-meter dash with a personal-best 10.58 and third in the 200-meter dash at 21.58. Cage Davison also turned in a strong weekend, placing third in the 100 meters with a PR of 10.63 before finishing second in the long jump with a mark of 7.04 meters.

The Leathernecks earned another historic performance in the men's 4x100-meter relay as the quartet of Davison, Toriano Tate, DonPaul and Cooley won the event in 40.66, the eighth-fastest time in school history.

In the field events, Matthew Thomas led the way with victories in the discus, javelin and shot put. Thomas recorded a personal-best throw of 31.88 meters in the discus while also winning the javelin at 37.38 meters and the shot put at 11.62 meters. Rayvon Wright added another first-place finish for WIU in the triple jump with a leap of 14.22 meters, while Nino Romeo finished third in the pole vault after clearing 4.25 meters.

On the women's side, Maleigha Huston continued her impressive outdoor campaign with a victory in the 800 meters, crossing the line in 2:09.08. Mya Hippolyte also captured an event title, winning the 100-meter dash in 11.88.

Dana Surwillo delivered one of the top performances of the meet in the pole vault, clearing a personal-best 4.00 meters to win the event and move to No. 2 all-time in program history. Colleen Johnson and Emma Ponx each tied for second in the event after both cleared 3.70 meters.

Western Illinois saw several strong performances in the middle-distance events as Emma-Kate Watt placed third in the 1500 meters with a personal-best 4:39.22. Ellie Eastman, Lily Patterson, Cassie Brushaber and Caley Murphy also recorded personal records in the event.

Janelle Marshall highlighted the hurdle performances with a collegiate personal-best time of 1:05.25 in the 400-meter hurdles to place third, while Linnea Bloom added a collegiate PR of 1:11.61.

The women's 4x100-meter relay team of Rhianna Davis, Jolena Site, Nyla Norman and Hippolyte finished third overall to cap another productive weekend for the Leathernecks.

The Huskie Classic concluded the regular season for Western Illinois. The Leathernecks will next travel to Little Rock, Arkansas for the OVC Outdoor Championships beginning May 14.
 

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