Felton III and Rodriguez set new program records at the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Evansville track and field team broke two program records while having four podium finishes at the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic.

After over a month away from competition the Purple Aces returned to action in the Bluegrass State at the PNC Bank Bellarmine Classic. Sophomore sprinter Raymond Felton III (Houston / Clear Brook HS) and sophomore runner Rafael Rodriguez (Segovia, Spain) broke program records set in 2024 on Friday. Along with the two new records, UE had 12 PRs through 18 events at the Norton Healthcare Sports & Learning Center.

Evansville had a big day in sprint events as the team began the meet with a PR from Felton III in the 60m dash. With a time of 6.88 seconds in both his qualifying heat and the final, Felton picked up the Aces’ first podium finish of the day in second place. UE continued its strong sprints day with a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter race for sophomore Taylor Johnson (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS) with a time of 58.22 seconds. Freshman Clara Kelty (Louisville, Ky. / Presentation Academy) also competed in the 400-meter race with a time of 1:10.53.

Evansville’s final individual sprint event of the day was the men’s and women’s 200 meters. Felton III had the Aces only first-place finish in the 200-meter race with a program record time of 21.55 seconds. Along with setting a program record, Felton’s time was the 100th fastest in Division I this season. Freshman sprinter Myles Terry (Evansville, Ind. / North HS) also placed in the top 10 in the 200 meters with a time of 22.3 seconds. In the women’s 200-meter race, Johnson placed sixth with a time of 25.51 seconds while Kate Walke (Batesville, Ind. / Oldenburg Academy) had a PR at 28.75 seconds.

UE ended the day on the track with the men’s 4×400 meter relay. Evansville’s relay team set a season-best with a time of 3:27.61 to place fourth. The Aces relay team consisted of Connor Shin, Kaiden McAllister, Woody Burrell, and Jakub Nowicki. Walke had UE’s only hurdle event of the day, running the 60-meter hurdles in 9.63 seconds for a Top 10 finish.

Evansville’s first distance race of the day was a PR for sophomore Avery Stephens (Newburg, Ind. / Castle HS) in the 3,000-meter race. Stephens ran the 3,000 in 10:41.40 for an eighth-place finish. The Aces then ran their first mid-distance event with the men’s and women’s 800-meter race.

On the men’s side sophomore Owen Cuplin (Hampshire, Ill. / Hampshire HS) ran a PR of 1:57.62 for 10th place. Also finishing in the men’s race was freshman Vincent Filipek (Northville, Mich. / Northville HS) in 2:02.25 and sophomore Alejandro Navarrete (Mogadore, Ohio / Mogadore HS) in 2:10.04. In the women’s race sophomore Chase Hayes (Noblesville, Ind. / Western HS) and senior Hannah Bryan (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS) both set PRs at 2:26.16 and 2:33.21 for 11th and 27th place. Freshman Rebekah Sachs also finished the 800-meter in 2:35.98.

UE had 10 runners between the men’s and women’s mile on Friday. In the men’s mile, three separate runners set PRs with two Top 10 finishes. Sophomore Tommaso Losma (Lombardia, Italy) had Evansville’s highest finish at third with a time of 4:17.44. Senior Adam Oulgout (St. Paul, Minn. / Central HS) was close behind in sixth with a PR of 4:18.43. Sophomore Woody Burrell (Cedarburg, Wis. / Cedarburg HS) also set a PR in the mile with a time of 4:27.79.

The Aces had four other runners finish the men’s mile freshman Andrew Potter (Warsaw, Ind. / Warsaw Community HS) with a time of 4:33.82, Filipek (4:38.54), freshman Oliver Wilgocki (Chesterton, Ind. / Chesterton HS) with a time of 4:43.41, and McAllister (4:45.12). In the women’s race sophomore Kyndall Anthis (Pakota, Ind. / Princeton Community HS) had the fastest time at 5:42.32 followed by freshmen Lauren Bradley (Russiaville, Ind. / Western HS) with a time of 5:43.54 and Skylar Dickenson (Brownsburg, Ind. / Brownsburg HS) with a time of 5:48.35.

UE’s final distance race was the team’s other program record of the day. Rodriguez broke the record set by teammate Samuel Lea in the 3,000-meter race by over five seconds. Rodriguez placed second in the race setting a new PR of 8:18.50.

Senior jumper Antuwan Powell (Ringgold, Ga. / Heritage HS) made his return to jumps after a year focused on the track in 2024. In his season debut, Powell set a new PR in the long jump at 5.94 meters. Powell’s first indoor long jump was good for ninth place in the event.

Freshman thrower Emma Bertel (Franklin, Ind. / Franklin Community HS) had Evansville’s best result in the field, placing eight in the women’s shot put at 10.50 meters. One Aces thrower had a PR as freshman Beau Baldwin (Mt. Vernon HS) threw 11.18 meters in the men’s weight throw. Senior Kaitlyn Sansone (Fairfield, Ohio / Mercy McAuley HS) had a season-best on Friday in the women’s shot put at 8.77 meters.

UE will have its first out-of-state meet when the team travels to Birmingham, Alabama. Evansville will compete in two meets over the weekend while in the Magic City in early March. The Aces will first compete in the UAB Vulcan Invite on Friday, February 7 followed by the UAB Green and Gold Invite on Saturday, February 8.