VU Track and Field off to hot start after EIU John Craft Invite

CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Vincennes University men’s and women’s Track and Field teams hit the track for the first time in the 2024 Indoor season Saturday, competing in the John Craft Invite hosted by Eastern Illinois University.

The Trailblazers were competing against several NCAA Division I programs and were able to come away with five event victories on the day.

The VU men’s team was led by two, one-two finishes on the track, starting with freshmen Tumani Skinner and Olamipo Ladipo in the 200 meters with Skinner taking the top spot at 23 seconds and Ladipo crossing at 23.18 seconds.

Sophomores Desroy Jordan and Matthew Gray took the top two spots in the 600 meters, with Jordan finishing with a time of 1:24.17 and Gray ending at 1:29.15.

The VU men’s runners continued their run of first place finishes with sophomore Isaac Stanford taking the top spot in the mile with a time of 4:23.07.

Stanford was joined in the top 10 in the mile by fellow Trailblazers Tanner Spence and Cody Noel, Spence placed ninth at 4:42.25 and Noel ended 10th with a time of 4:43.27.

Stanford, Spence and Gray joined Malik Ferdinand in the Distance Medley Relay, placing second overall with a time of 11:26.67.

Ferdinand then competed with Ladipo, Jordan and Skinner in the 4×400 meter relay, taking the top spot with a time of 3:40.40.

VU decathlete Olegs Kozjakovs also had a big day at EIU, placing second in the long jump with a distance of 6.52 meters, finishing third in the 60 meter hurdles at 8.98 seconds and placing fifth in the shot put with a throw of 14.51 meters.

The VU men’s team top 10 finishes were rounded out by throwers Jacob Wickham, Jake Terrell and Jacob Smith each placing in the top 10 in the weight throw.

Wickham led the Blazers with a throw of 13.10 meters for sixth, while Terrell placed ninth at 12.08 meters and Smith placed 10th with a throw of 9.72 meters.

“Well, I’m not sure how to explain this meet,” VU Head Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. “I may have undersold it a bit too much. I told our team that this was just a time trial and to focus more on the mental aspect than the performance itself and I believe they took me up on it.”

“It was not a very competitive meet and the track was not conducive to fast times,” Rogier added. “The one thing I came away with is that we have a really good group of young people on this team and it is going to be a lot of fun watching them compete and improve as the season progresses. We did not compete eight of our team members so we were not entered in a few events that we will normally compete in and had to juggle things just to put together relays.”