CHARLESTON, Ill. – University of Evansville junior Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind./Princeton Community) broke the UE hammer throw record on Friday, and freshman Denzel Lasam (St. Louis, Mo./De Smet) won the title in the triple jump to pace the Purple Aces’ track and field teams at the Eastern Illinois Big Blue Meet in Charleston, Illinois.
Dove broke the UE school record by nearly a full meter, as he recorded a personal-best toss of 47.96 meters (157’4″) to break teammate Mike Boots’ (Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei) previous record of 46.97 meters. For Dove, it continues a strong start to his 2022 season, as he has set a personal-best mark in five of his first six meets this spring.
“Zach has been on fire this year,” said UE head coach Don Walters. “He has really put in the time in the off-season and in the weight room, and it is paying dividends right now. You love to see that kind of hard work get rewarded.”
Lasam, meanwhile, took home the individual title in the triple jump with a distance of 12.81 meters (42’0.50″). He has finished in the top 10 of all five collegiate triple jump competitions in which he has competed in so far for UE. Lasam also posted a personal-best time of 11.93 in the 100-meter dash, as overall, the Purple Aces recorded 15 personal-best marks on the day.
“Denzel continues to impress in his first year with the team,” said Walters. “I love his attitude.  He is always upbeat and always trying to get better.
“When you consider the elements and the fact that we had some key people out due to injury, to set 15 PRs on a day like today is pretty impressive. I am really proud of both teams, as we had a lot of different people step up today.”
Joining Lasam in setting a PR time in the 100-meters were junior Giovanni Purser (11.02) and senior Joey Rucinski (11.93). Rucinski also set new personal standards in the long jump (5.91 meters) and javelin (44.45 meters), as his toss in the javelin also earned him fourth place overall. Dove also set a PR in the javelin with a toss of 36.95 meters, while senior McKenna Sapp (Bloomington, Ill./University) also set a PR mark in the women’s javelin with a toss of 23.87 meters.
Seniors Andrew Schuler (Ferdinand, Ind./Forest Park) and Brendon Smith (Newburgh, Ind./Castle) set PR marks in the men’s hammer throw (41.53 meters) and long jump (6.40 meters), respectively. On the track, freshman Kara Yunker (Evansville, Ind./North) set a personal-best mark in the 100-meters (13.29), while senior Sam Weldon (5:17.72), freshman Ellie Stewart (5:31.90) and junior Claire Griffy (6:57.23) established new personal standards in the 1,500-meters. Sophomore Peter Epur (Eldoret, Kenya) also set a new PR with a time of 16:05.54 in the men’s 5,000-meters.
Evansville will return to action next weekend, as the Purple Aces will travel to Louisville, Kentucky to take part in the Jim Vargo Invitational hosted by Bellarmine University. The meet will begin on Friday, April 8 and conclude on Saturday, April 9.
