The University of Evansville men’s and women’s track and field teams earned a pair of individual victories at the Kentucky Wesleyan Twilight Invitational on Friday evening in Owensboro, Ky.

As a team, the Purple Aces’ men earned a podium finish as Evansville finished in third-place in the nine team invitational while Evansville’s women captured a fourth-place finish among 10 teams.

Evansville’s outing was highlighted by two individual victories, both coming from the Aces’ women’s squad. The first victory came from Samantha Bittner who set her second outdoor program record with a time of 1:16.15 in the 400 meter hurdles. UE earned its second win of the night in the women’s 4×400 meter relay where the Aces earned the event victory in a time of 4:28.10.

Aside from the two individuals wins, the Aces found success throughout the invitational. In the women’s 100 meter dash, Monica Watkins paced the Aces’ contingent with a fifth-place finish in a time of 13.35. Following Watkins were Nikki Hutchcraft (13.70), Crimson Jones (14.35), and Holli Buretta (15.65) who finished in seventh, ninth, and 12th, respectively. On the men’s side, Aaron Straight was the lone Ace to compete in the men’s 100 meter dash, earning a ninth-place finish in a time of 11.80.

In the women’s 200 meter dash, Watkins once again led the way, earning a fifth-place finish in a time of 28.10, while Buretta (33.66) and Taylor Williams (47.87) finished in 10th and 11th. Straight represented Evansville in the men’s 200 meter, finishing in 10th and crossing the line in a time of 24.06.

Lizzy Walston captured a podium finish in the women’s 400 meter dash, crossing the line in second in a time of 1:04.92. Finishing in eighth in the 400 meters was Kylie Hasenour with a time of 1:10.59. On the men’s side, Everett Plocek finished the men’s 400 meter dash in seventh-place with a time of 55.61.

Three Purple Aces women competed in the women’s 800 meters, led by Izzy Dawson. Dawson earned a seventh-place finish in a time of 2:36.69, while her teammates Sarah Poltrack (2:41.56) and Lexi Sutherland (3:09.89) finishing in ninth and 15th, respectively. The Aces’ men showcased their might in the 800 meters as both Ricky Hendrix and Stanley Chepchieng finished in the top 10. Hendrix led the way for the Aces with a time of 2:02.48, earning Hendrix a fifth-place finish. Finishing in eighth, Chepchieng crossed the line in a time of 2:04.21 in the 30-runner field.

In the women’s 1500 meter run, Sienna Crews broke the program record by more than six seconds with a time of 4:59.10, earning Crews a fourth-place finish. Lauren Meyer followed Crews with an 11th-place finish with a time of 5:19.39. On the men’s side, Ethan Price paced Evansville with a seventh-place finish in a time of 4:10.91, while Jonathan Newby (4:48.83) and Grant Mangan (4:59.13) finished in 29th and 32nd, respectively.

The records continued to be set, this time on the men’s side. In the men’s 3,000 meter run, Timmy Miller set an Aces’ program record with a time of 9:56.04, earning Miller a 20th-place finish.

In the women’s 3000 meter steeplechase, Anna Lowry set the Aces third program record of the night. Lowry recorded a time of 12:22.80, finishing in fourth-place. For Evansville’s men, Kalen Ochs was the lone Ace in the men’s 3000 meter steeplechase with a fourth-place finish in a time of 11:08.13.

Breaking her own record, Samantha Bittner continued to impress for the Aces in the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Bittner improved on her program record by nearly a second with a time of 16.53, earning her a second-place finish in the race.

In the men’s 4×100 meter relay, Evansville finished in fourth with a time of 47.09 just a second-and-a-half off third place. For the Aces’ women, Evansville earned a second-place finish in the women’s 4×100 meter relay with a time of 53.04.

Following the women’s team’s victory in the 4×400 meter relay, the Aces’ men captured a third-place finish in the men’s 4×400 meter relay. Evansville earned the podium finish with a time of 3:40.88 in the six-team field.

The Aces’ success continued in the field events, beginning with the women’s high jump. Crimson Jones led Evansville with a third-place finish with a height of 4’5″.

Following a one-two finish at the Stan Lyons Invitational, Ian Alberts and Kevin Yeung continued to find success in the men’s pole vault competition. Alberts led the Aces’ contingent with a second-place finish with a final height of 3.80 meters, while Yeung finished fourth with a height of 3.50 meters.

In the women’s long jump, Kylie Hasenour improved on her program record with an eighth-place finish. Hasenour bested her program mark of 3.40 meters by .21 meters with a jump of 3.61 meters at the invitational. On the men’s side, Stanley Chepchieng captured a third-place finish with a distance of 6.10 meters, just .18 meters off first place. Kevin Yeung grabbed an 11th-place finish with a jump of 5.27 meters.

Lizzy Walston recorded the second-best triple jump mark in women’s track and field program history on Friday evening. In the women’s triple jump, Walston earned a sixth-place finish with a distance of 9.08 meters.

Continuing her record-breaking campaign, Brittany Corley shattered her own program record in the women’s shot put. Corley captured a seventh-place finish in the shot put with a distance of 9.29 meters, breaking her own program-best mark by .61 meters. For the Aces’ men, Ryan Freeman paced Evansville with a second-place finish. Freeman earned the podium finish with a distance of 13.21 meters, a personal best throw and the best throw by a Purple Ace since 1981. Following Freeman were Clay Doty (10.99 meters) and Chris Zapata (10.83 meters) who finished in 10th and 11th, respectively.

Corley’s strong evening continued in the women’s discus where she set her second program record of the invitational. The first Ace to compete in the women’s discus, Corley finished in fourth with a distance of 31.31 meters, giving Corley her third program record on the season. For the second time on the night, Freeman recorded the best distance by a Purple Ace since 1981, this time in the men’s discus. Freeman earned a third-place finish with a distance of 39.34 meters. Chris Zapata finished less than a meter behind Freeman with a throw of 38.39 meters, earning him a fourth-place finish. Also for the Aces in the men’s discus, Clay Doty (25.17 meters) and Alton Hoops (18.04 meters) finished in 12th and 14th, respectively.

In all, seven program records were set for the Aces in the invitational.

Evansville is back in action at the Austin Peay Invitational on April 13 and 14 in Clarksville, Tenn.