The Purple Aces competed in two separate meets across 290 miles
EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Four more program records fell on the track and in the field over the weekend for the University of Evansville track and field teams.
The Purple Aces split their time and team this weekend at two different meets, the Music City Challenge in Nashville hosted by Vanderbilt, and the DePauw Indoor Invitational in Greencastle. Two program records fell at each meet, with both track records happening in Nashville and both field records at DePauw. In total, UE competed in 16 events across two days at both meets.
Music City Challenge – Day 1
Evansville began its weekend with the field events at the Music City Challenge on Friday morning. Jaden Hayes (Huntingburg, Ind. / Southridge HS) and Zach Dove (Princeton, Ind. / Princeton Community HS) participated in the weight throw in the morning where Hayes threw a PR of 17.22 meters. The Aces then had the rest of the morning off until the track events in the late afternoon.
UE started on the track with the mile race for both the women and men. On the women’s side, Kalina Urbaniak (Suchy Las, Poland) had the fastest finish at 5:02.39 followed by Nicole Prauchner (Neuhofen an der Ybbs, Austria) at 5:03.12 and Nayla Martin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada) at 5:05.14. On the men’s side, freshman Rafael Rodriguez (Segovia, Spain) set a new program record in the mile at 4:14.58. Adam Ouglout (St. Paul, Minn. / Central HS) finished with a time of 4:26.17.
The final event of the first day of the Music City Challenge for Evansville was the 200-meter sprint. The Aces only had one runner compete in Raymond Felton III (Houston, Clear Brook HS). Felton III finished 24th overall with a time of 22.15 seconds.
Music City Challenge – Day 2
It was all track events on the second day of the Music City Challenge for UE. Another track record fell on Saturday morning in the second event of the day as freshman Samuel Lea (Worchester, England) ran the 3000-meter race in 8:23.82, besting his former record by almost eight seconds. Evansville also had two women run the 3000-meter race as Sonja Inzinger (Mautern an der Donau, Austria) placed ninth in a time of 9:55.88, and Sarah Vanderhoof-Dossett finished in 10:34.01.
The Aces had a handful of runners compete in the 800-meter race on both sides. The women ran first as Prauchner led the pack in 18th with a time of 2:14.45 followed by Martin with a time of 2:17.33. On the men’s side, Cedrik Flipo (Beloil, Quebec Canda) finished 20th in a time of 1:53.30, followed closely by Alvaro Monfort (Castile Y Leon, Spain) in 30th with a time of 1:54.88. Rodriguez rounded out the 800-meter race with a time of 1:55.46.
Sprints ended the day for UE as Felton III finished 33rd in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.13. Evansville’s final event in Nashville was the men’s 4×400-meter relay. The Aces finished middle of the pack at 12th with a time of 3:20.05 to end the Music City Challenge.
DePauw Indoor Invitational
Meanwhile in Greencastle on Saturday, UE had a small group compete at DePauw. Evansville only had finishes from its field entries as its three runners DNF’d. The Aces got their first program record at DePauw early as sophomore Kate Walke (Batesville, Ind. / Oldenburg Academy) beat her record from the week before in the 60-meter hurdles. Walke completed the event in 9.47 seconds to take third place in the finals.
UE had more podium finishes in the men’s shot put as Dove and Hayes placed second and third with throws of 14.87 meters and 14.78 meters. Hayes’s throw of 14.78 was a personal best by .38 meters.  In the women’s shot put, freshman Jillian Harris (Boonville, Ind. / Boonville HS) set a PR with a throw 9.19 meters for 10th. Kaitlyn Sansone (Fairfield, Ohio / Mercy McAuley HS) and Brooke Springer (Henderson, Ky. / Henderson Community HS) also threw in the event at 8.80 meters and 8.66 meters.
Evansville wrapped up its day in Greencastle with the men’s and women’s weight throw. The Aces picked up their second field program record of the weekend from Dove in the weight throw. Dove broke his former record from 2023 by 15 centimeters at 17.83 meters to take the top spot in the event. Hayes finished right behind in second with a throw of 17.75 meters.
On the women’s side, sophomore Gwen Darrah (Cleveland, Ohio / Orange HS) earned a podium finish in third with a throw of 13.17 meters. Senior Hannah Bryan (Evansville, Ind. / Reitz HS) threw a PR in the event with a throw of 11.18 meters for eighth. Harris rounded out the event with a throw of 9.38 meters.
The Aces will wrap up the indoor season at a Valley opponent meet next week. UE will participate in the Indiana State Open on Saturday, February 17th before the MVC Indoor Championships in Chicago.
