VU Track and Field dominates Bill Smith Invitational to begin outdoor season

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s track and field teams had an outstanding showing Saturday afternoon at the annual VU Bill Smith Invitational, named after former VU Track and Field coach and 2021-22 NJCAA Cross Country and Track & Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee Bill Smith.

The conditions were tough Saturday to begin the outdoor track season, with temperatures hovering around the mid-30’s and 25 mile per hour wind all afternoon.

The VU athletes braved the cold weather to pick up first-place finishes in 16 different events Saturday.

Vincennes University’s men’s team was led out of the blocks by freshman sprinter Jalen Bowman, who picked up a pair of first-place finishes in the 100 meter and 200 meter races.

Sophomore Kyle Stewart (Evansville, Ind.) placed third in the 100 meter sprint, before taking the top spot in the long jump with a distance of 7.07 meters.

Freshman Collin Sutton (New Albany, Ind.) placed third in the 200 meter race, while also taking second place in the 400 meters and as part of the 4×400 meter relay team.

Sutton was joined in the 400 meter race by freshman Yamar Lyons (Kalamazoo, Mich.) who finished sixth and sophomore James Nzoyikorera (Indianapolis, Ind.) who placed seventh.

VU continues their trend of dominating the 800 meter race from the indoor season, as the Trailblazers had three of the first four finishers Saturday.

Sophomore Manamanya Opiew (Indianapolis, Ind.) took the top spot by two hundredths of a second.

Opiew was followed by freshmen Mathew Keitany (Kenya) who placed third and Ernest Momodu (Indianapolis, Ind.) who finished fourth.

Opiew would also take the top spot in the 1500 meter race, with Keitany again placing third, sophomore Trenton Faulkner (Vincennes, Ind.) coming in fifth and Momodu taking eighth.

Sophomore Ian Boit (Eldoret, Kenya) and Walter Tanui (Eldoret, Kenya) placed fifth and sixth respectively in the men’s 5k.

Sophomore Damian Ross (East St. Louis, Ill.) began his outdoor season strong with a win in the 400 meter hurdles, finishing just over a minute at 1:00.76.

Freshman Trey Browne placed third in the 3000 meter steeplechase, which began after a short delay to refill water pit after a leak.

The VU 4×400 relay team of Lyons, Sutton, Bowman and Ross took second place, while the team of Faulkner, Keitany, Momodu and Opiew placed fourth.

Vincennes continued their strong day in the field events, with sophomore Matthew Frazier (Franklin, Ind.) taking the top spot in the pole vault at 3.65 meters.

Freshman Nicholas Stanislaus (Grenada) placed third in the pole vault before taking the top spot in the triple jump with a distance of 13.55 meters.

Sophomore Mason Harmes (Borden, Ind.) came away with three, top-three finishes on the day, earning the top spot in the shot put at 12.49 meters, second place in the discus at 44.29 meters and third in the hammer throw at 34.59 meters.

Freshman David Beadle (Jamaica) took the first place finish in the discus and hammer throw with a distance of 53.13 meters in the discus and 36.16 meters in the hammer. Beadle also placed fifth in the shot put at 10.56 meters.

Sophomore Jaylen Rush (Palos Heights, Ill.) rounded out the VU men’s team finishers taking fourth place in the hammer throw at 26.13 meters and winning the javelin at 34.11 meters.

“It was a brutal day with winds blowing at 25 miles per hour and cold,” VU Track and Field Head Coach Marty Rogier said. “But everyone competed very well and not one person ever complained about the conditions. It ended up being a really fun meet, even though we did end up losing our team tent in the wind. We had so many good efforts today.”

“Jalen won the sprints, Mason won the discus and shot, David won the hammer and Jaylen won the javelin, giving us a sweep of the men’s throws,” Rogier added. “Manny had a great effort winning the 800 and 1500. We did well in the jumps with Kyle winning with a very good jump in those conditions and Nicholas having a good effort in the triple jump.”

“Matthew won the pole vault where just clearing the bar was a major accomplishment. Damian had a very good effort in the 400 hurdles. Collin Sutton had a very good day, with three really nice runs along with his brother Asuis Miles (New Albany, Ind.) who competed unattached. Those two could really help our sprint groups for the future.”

The Vincennes women’s team also had an impressive showing Saturday, with sophomore Chloe Knepp (Montgomery, Ind.) being the only VU athlete to take first place in three different events.

Knepp won the 200 meter race at 26.90 seconds, the 400 meter race at 1:05.49 and was part of the 4×400 meter relay team with freshman Brittany Page (Bicknell, Ind.), sophomore Kyra Young (South Bend, Ind.) and freshman Hope Laughlin (Olney, Ill.) who finished with a time of 4:47.76.

Sophomore Asia McLemore (Michigan City, Ind.) took fifth place in the 200 meter race and finished sixth in the 100 meter sprint at 13.75 seconds.

Page, Young and Laughlin all ran together in the 800 meter race, with Page taking fifth at 2:38.20, Young placing sixth at 2:41.59 and Laughlin ending eighth at 2:52.96.

Young would also go on to take second in the 1500 meter race at 5:15.44 and Laughlin would place fifth at 5:39.61.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Koenig (Terre Haute, Ind.) ended the day with a second-place finish in the 3000 meter steeplechase at 13:32.01.

Freshman Abyela Cruz (French Lick, Ind.) placed second in the discus and fourth in the javelin with a distance of 28.65 meter in the discus and 22.19 in the javelin.

Freshman Giorgia Fino (Italy) took home the top spot in the javelin throw with a final distance of 29.87 meters.

“The women’s team had very good efforts with really tough conditions to run into,” Rogier said. “Kyra ran well as did Brittany and Hope. Giorgia won the javelin in her first opportunity since coming to America.”

“We started a new tradition Saturday of giving out the Trailblazer Willie Award to the meets outstanding performer,” Rogier added. “Saturday that was Chloe Knepp, our only triple winner of the day. This is meant to be a fun, goofy thing that we can celebrate every week.”

“The funniest event was the steeplechase, where we had to postpone the event until we could fill the water pit because it leaks. For some reason, everyone likes to cheer for those who are going to take a polar plunge and it was a fun, great event. Kaitlyn and Trey both ran well and handled the obstacles very well.”

“I also want to give a huge shoutout to VU Facilities Coordinator Michael Taylor and his team for handling moving all the hurdles, blocks and steeple barriers,” Rogier said. “That crew kept the meet moving and were willing troopers for being out there all day.”

The Trailblazers will look to continue to build on this strong showing next weekend when VU travels to Upland, Ind. to take part in the George Glass Invitational, hosted by Taylor University Saturday, April 2.