The Purple Aces men’s team currently sits in second place after 10 events
MURRAY, Ky. – The University of Evansville track and field team opened the 2024 outdoor season on Friday afternoon with multiple podium finishes.
The Purple Aces throwers had a big day at the Margaret Simmons Invitational. UE’s field athletes picked up five podium finishes, including two graduate throwers taking the top spot in the men’s discus and hammer throws. Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind. / Princeton Community HS) earned Evansville’s first top-place finish of the night in the men’s discus with a throw of 47.44 meters.
Jaden Hayes (Huntingberg, Ind. / Southridge HS) also earned a podium finish in the discus with a throw of 44.12 meters for third. Hayes earned a 1st place finish of his own in the men’s hammer throw as he came just shy of the program record with a 50.68-meter toss. Dove was right behind Hayes in the event with a throw of 48.99 meters while also earning a second-place finish in the men’s shot put at 14.52 meters.
On the women’s side, sophomore Gwen Darrah (Cleveland, Ohio / Orange HS) finished eighth in the women’s hammer throw at 41.67 meters. She was followed by seniors Hannah Bryan (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS) and Brooke Springer (Henderson, Ky. / Henderson Community HS) with throws of 30.96 and 25.30 meters respectively. Springer led the Aces in the women’s discus throw at 29.18 meters while freshman Jillian Miller (Boonville, Ind. / Boonville HS) had a 24.29-meter throw.
UE also had a big night in the 4×800-meter relay races. Evansville placed first in both the men’s and women’s events to set program records on both sides. The men’s team of Alvaro Monfort (Castile Y Leon, Spain), Adam Oulgout (St. Paul, Minn. / Central HS), Tommaso Losma (Lombardia, Italy), and Rafael Rodriguez (Segovia, Spain) broke a 44-year-old record with a time of 7:42.29. The women’s team was the first to run the 4×800 relay in program history finishing in 9:10.84 behind Eilen Brenne (Skien, Norway), Kalina Urbaniak (Suchy Las, Poland), Nayla Martin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada), and Nicole Prauchner (Neuhofen an der Ybbs, Austria).
In individual track performances, freshman sprinter Woody Burrel (Cedarburg, Wis. / Cedarburg HS) had the best finish, placing fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.73 seconds. Evansville had four runners in the men’s 200-meter race with freshman Raymond Felton III (Houston / Clear Brook HS) placing 10th with a time of 22.30 seconds. Sophomore Kate Walke also broke a program record in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.60 seconds for 11th place.
After the first day of the Margaret Simmons Invitational, the Aces men sit in second place with 62 points just behind Purdue Fort Wayne with 66 points. UE’s women are currently tied for fifth place with Olivet (NAIA) at 12 points. Evansville will begin Day 2 of the Invite on Saturday at 10:15 a.m. with field events. Running events for the Aces will begin at noon.
