The Purple Aces finished 9th and 10th in the final standings
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The University of Evansville track and field team capped off the 2024 season with the final day of the MVC Outdoor Championships.
The Purple Aces competed in nine events on Championship Sunday where five athletes set new personal records to end the 2024 season. UE began its day in the field with performances in the women’s and men’s discus throw. Senior Brooke Springer (Henderson, Ky. / Henderson Community HS) set a PR on the women’s side with a throw of 39.72 meters for 13th.
On the men’s side, graduate thrower Jaden Hayes (Huntingburg, Ind. / Southridge HS) and freshman thrower Cole Johnson (Salem, Ill. / Salem Community HS) set PRs in the event. Johnson threw for 43.81 meters in the preliminary throws to place 14th. Hayes and fellow graduate thrower Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind. / Princeton Community HS) made the men’s discus finals, placing fifth and sixth with throws of 48.90 and 48.18 meters respectively.
Evansville began its day on the track with the men’s 4×100 relay race. The relay team of Jude Nguyen (Farmington Hills, Mich. / North Farmington HS), José Ocampo (Monterrey, Nueva Leon, Mexico ), Woody Burrell (Cedarburg, Wis. / Cedarburg HS), and Raymond Felton III (Houston / Clear Brook HS) set a personal best in the event with a time of 43.07 seconds for eighth place. The Aces wouldn’t return to relay events until the end of the afternoon with UE’s runner finals taking the middle of the day.
Freshman runner Nicole Prauchner (Neuhofen an der Ybbs, Austria) ran in two individual events for Evansville, the women’s 1500 and 800-meter races. In the 1500-meter, Prauchner set a PR of 4:27.63 to place sixth in the event. In the 800-meter, the freshman ran a 2:11.38 for fifth place.
The Aces competed in two individual men’s finals on Sunday from freshman Rafael Rodrigez (Segovia, Spain) and Samuel Lea (Worchester, England) in the 800-meter and 5,000-meter races. Rodrigez competed first, setting a PR in the 800-meters with a time of 1:51.13 for fourth place. Lea finished the men’s 5K in 15:28.62 to cap off his season.
UE’s final events of the Championships were the women’s and men’s 4×400 relay races. The all-freshman women’s team of Taylor Johnson (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS), Prauchner, Martin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada), and Eilén Brenne (Skein, Norway) won the first heat of the event with a time of 3:51.96 for ninth place. The men’s team of Felton III, Rodriguez, Tommaso Losma (Lombardia, Italy), and Adam Oulgout (St. Paul, Minn. / Center HS) earned Evansville its final point of the day by placing eighth with a time of 3:24.56.
Overall, the Aces finished ninth out of 10 teams on the men’s side and 10th out of 11 teams on the women’s side. Hosts and projected favorites Indiana State lifted the MVC Outdoor titles for both the men’s and women’s teams. Final standings from the 2024 MVC Outdoor Championships are listed below.
MEN
- Indiana State – 221.5 points
- Illinois State – 152 points
- Southern Illinois – 107 points
- Northern Iowa – 88 points
- Drake – 67 points
- Belmont – 65.5 points
- Bradley – 61 points
- Valparaiso – 31 points
- Evansville – 14 points
- UIC – 7 points
WOMEN
- Indiana State – 158 points
- Murray State – 136.5 points
- Illinois State – 132.5 points
- Belmont – 130 points
- Southern Illinois – 58 points
- Drake – 54 points
- Bradley – 51 points
- Northern Iowa – 50.5 points
- Missouri State – 39.5 points
- Evansville – 7 points
- UIC – 2 points
