The University of Evansville men’s and women’s track and field teams took to Gibson Track and Field Complex as the Purple Aces continued to set program records on the second day of the 2018 Missouri Valley Conference Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.
One of the most impressive performances of the day came in the men’s 800 meters preliminaries as freshman Stanley Chepchieng broke a 35-year old program record. Chepchieng, who had been inching closer and closer to the program mark throughout the regular season, captured the record for his own with a time of 1:53.46, finishing in 11th.
In the women’s 100 meter dash prelims, Monica Watkins led a pair of Purple Aces freshmen in the sprint with a time of 13.08 seconds, earning her a 19th-place finish, while Taylor Williams finished in 20th with a time of 15.91 seconds. On the men’s side, freshman Aaron Straight was the lone Ace in the sprint as Straight finished in 19th, crossing the line in a time of 11.82 seconds.
Freshman Lizzy Walston paced the Evansville contingent in the prelims of the 400 meter dash as Walston captured a 21st-place finish in a time of 1:00.92, just over a tenth of a second off the Aces’ program record. Following Walston was freshman Kylie Hasenour who crossed the finish line in a time of 1:07.97 in 23rd. In the men’s 400 meter dash, freshman Dawson Hood finished in 20th, crossing the line in a time of 59.50.
For the women in the 800 meters prelims, junior Sienna Crews set a new personal record and the second-best time in program history clocking a 2:19.85, finishing in 15th. Freshmen Sarah Poltrack (2:40.20) and Lexi Sutherland 2:54.39) earned 21st and 23rd place finishes for the Aces.
Freshman Samantha Bittner improved upon her own program record in the women’s 100 meter hurdles prelims with a time of 16.35 seconds, earning Bittner a 15th-place finish.
Bittner set her second program record of the day in the women’s 400 meter hurdles prelims as the freshman blew past her previous best time by nearly two seconds with a time of 1:11.23 as Bittner finished in 13th.
In the women’s 3,000 meter steeplechase, freshman Anna Lowry shattered her own program record by more than 22 seconds, capturing a 14th-place finish crossing the line in a time of 11:41.59. A pair of freshmen in Ethan Price (10:10.65) and Kalen Ochs (10:59.69) took to the track for the Aces men in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, finishing in 20th and 21st, respectively.
Freshman Kylie Hasenour represented the Aces in the women’s long jump as Hasenour finished 19th with a distance of 3.50 meters. Earning a 17th-place finish for Evansville’s men in the long jump was freshman Kevin Yeung, who recorded a jump of 5.56 meters.
Finishing just a tenth of a meter off of one another in the men’s shot put were freshman Chris Zapata and junior Ryan Freeman. Zapata paced Evansville with a 14th place finish with a throw of 11.69 meters, while Freeman followed just behind with a throw of 11.59 meters. On the women’s side, Brittany Corley finished in 16th with a throw of 8.97 meters, earning the freshman a 16th-place finish.
The final day of competition begins on Sunday with field events beginning with the women’s triple jump at 11:30 a.m. and action on the track starting at 1 p.m. with the women’s 4×100 meter relay, directly followed by the men’s 4×100 meter relay. Live coverage of the final day’s competition is available on ESPN + beginning at 11:45 a.m. (CT).
