EVANSVILLE, Ind. – One week after competing at Indiana State’s Gibson Invitational, the University of Evansville track and field teams will return to Terre Haute to take part in the Sycamore Open at the Gibson Track & Field Complex. The one-day meet will take place on Saturday, with field events starting at 10 a.m. central time and track events beginning at noon central time.
Evansville had a successful trip to Terre Haute last weekend, as the Purple Aces broke three school records and set 23 personal-best marks in the three-day Gibson Invitational. Senior Mike Boots (Evansville, Ind./Mater Dei) broke a 46-year-old record in the shot put event with a throw of 15.34 meters, while junior thrower Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind./Princeton Community) broke the school mark in the hammer throw for the third-straight meet with a toss of 49.50 meters. Senior Joey Rucinski (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran) also made history in the decathlon event, posting a school-record score of 5,906 points to win the event.
“It was good to see a lot of people step up last week and post some more PRs, as we are beginning to close in on the conference meet in a couple of weeks,” said UE head coach Don Walters. “This meet on Saturday is our final tune-up for the conference meet, so hopefully, we can go out and set some more PRs and be in a real good place going into the Valley Championships in a few weeks.”
UE’s sprinters were able to take advantage of a strong wind last weekend to post some of their fastest times ever on the track, with sophomore Geordan Blades (10.64 – 100, 21.97 – 200) and junior Giovanni Purser (10.66 – 100) on the men’s side and freshman Kara Yunker (13.10 – 100, 27.46 – 200) and senior Skylar Tucker (26.57 – 200) on the women’s side posting personal-best times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Wind could also play a factor on Saturday, with southerly winds expected between 10 and 15 miles-per-hour, with gusts as high as 30.
As a team, Evansville placed fifth out of 11 schools on the men’s side and sixth out of nine schools on the women’s side at the Gibson Invitational. UE should see good competition at the Sycamore Open this weekend, with the likes of Indiana State, Bradley, Butler, IUPUI, Chicago State, Eastern Illinois and Saint Louis University expected to send competitors from the Division I ranks to the meet.
