Aces break six program records in first day at Commodore Challenge

NASHVILLE — It may have been the first meet day of the 2024 track and field season, but the University of Evansville team was in mid-season form to start the Commodore Challenge.

The Purple Aces were ready to go out of the gate at the Commodore Challenge as six runners broke indoor program records and five other team members set personal bests. All six of UE’s new records came during nonchampionship track events with an even split between the men’s and women’s events. Program records were set by Nicole Prauchner (Neuhofen an der Ybbs, Austria BORGL St.Pölten) in the women’s 1000-meter, Rafael Rodriguez (Segovia, Spain Colegio Claret) in the men’s 1000-meter, Eline Brenne (Skien, Norway Telemark Toppidrett Gymnas) in the women’s 600-meter, Jakub Nowicki (Poznan, Poland) in the men’s 600-meter, Taylor Johnson (Evansville, Ind., Reitz HS) in the women’s 300-meter, and Raymond Felton III (Houston, Clear Brook HS) in the men’s 300-meter.

The first day of the Commodore Challenge began with field events as Evansville’s throwers saw multiple personal records. On the men’s side graduate student Jaden Hayes (Huntingburg, Ind. Southridge HS) set a PR in the weight throw reaching 16.20m for 14th place. Graduate student Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind., Princeton Community HS) finished three spots ahead of Hayes in the event with a throw of 16.62m. On the women’s side, sophomore Gwen Darrah (Cleveland, Ohio, Orange HS) set a PR in the weight throw at 12.03m. Senior Hannah Bryan (Evansville, Ind., Reitz HS) made her throwing debut on Friday with a weight throw of 7.95m. Junior Mason Douglas (Howe, Ind. Manchester University) was the Aces lone juickmper on the day with a long jump of 5.87m.

The Aces sprinters also had a big day as sophomore Kate Walke (Batesville, Ind. Oldenburg Academy) set a personal record in the 200-meter dash at 29.20. But freshman Connor Shin (Bloomington, Ind., Bloomington North HS) had a Top 15 finish in his first collegiate meet running the 200-meter dash in 22.81 seconds. Sophomore Jude Nyugen (Farmington Hills, Mich. North Farmington) placed 22nd in the 200-meters at 24.07 seconds. Sprinters finished out the day for UE at the Commodore Challenge in the 300-meter as Johnson and Felton set program records at 41.80 seconds and 35.56 seconds respectively. Also racing in the 300-meters on the men’s side were Austin Liversgowdy (Florence, Ky. Cooper HS) in 17th with a time of 36.22 and sophomore Jose Ocampo (Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico) finished 23rd with a time of 36.68.

Mid-distance runners also had strong finishes at the Commodore Challenge. Three women finished in the Top 13 of the 1000-meters for Evansville as Prauchner set a new record at 2:52.14. Freshman Kalina Urbaniak (Suchy Las, Poland) placed 10th with a finish of 2:56.95 while Nayla Martin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada) placed 13th with a finish of 3:00.07. In the men’s 1000-meters Rodriguez ran a 2:29.41 for 8th and a new program record while Alvaro Monfort (Castile Y Leon, Spain I.E.S. Alonso de Madrigal) finished 11th with a time of 2:33.10 and Tommaso Losma (Lombardia, Italy Liceo Scientifico David Maria Turoldo) finished 14th with a time of 2:34.63.

In the 600-meters Brenne set a new program record of 1:37.10 on the women’s side in 10th place. On the men’s side Nowicki finished 15th with a time of 1:23.50 to break the program record set by junior Adam Oulgout last season. Also finishing the men’s 600-meters for Evansville was sophomore Joey Taylor with a time of 1:27.04 in his first 600-meter race.

Day two of the Commodore Challenge begins tomorrow at 11 a.m. with field events including shot put, pole vault, and the triple jump. Running events will begin at 12 p.m. starting with hurdle preliminaries and wrapping up with 4×400 relays at 4:35 p.m.