Knapp breaks own record at Illini Twilight

Sophomore+Haleigh+Knapp+finished+second+in+the+high+jump+clearing+57.25+during+the+EIU+Big+Blue+Classic+on+Saturday%2C+April+2.

Sophomore Haleigh Knapp finished second in the high jump clearing 5’7.25″ during the EIU Big Blue Classic on Saturday, April 2.

Mark Shanahan, Assistant Sports Editor

The Eastern track and field teams recorded three first-place finishes at the Illini Twilight on Saturday, most notably sophomore Haleigh Knapp who improved her school record in the high jump.

Knapp was victorious in the women’s high jump as she cleared a height of 5 feet 10.5 inches, which was a quarter inch better than the previous record she set at the Illinois State Redbird Invite last week. Junior Bryn Buckwalter won the shot put with a throw of 47 feet 10 inches. She was also fifth in the discus with a throw of 141 feet seven inches.

Senior Janie Howse was third in the hammer throw and fourth in the shot put. Her throw of 165 feet five inches ranks her at fourth on the Eastern all-time list. Sophomore Nicolette Diana placed third in the javelin and fourth in the discus. Her javelin throw was 117 feet one inch and her discus throw was 142 feet one inch.

Freshman Kaitlyn Ebert rounded out the top five finishers for the women throwers as she placed fourth in the javelin with a throw of 115 feet 11 inches. Junior Ivy Handley was third in the women’s 5K with a time of 17:08.29, which is third best in school history. Senior Amy Yeoman is now fifth all-time at Eastern with her time of 2:09.10 in the 800-meter run.

Senior Amina Jackson kept it going for the women, as she was third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.67. Sophomore Maria Baldwin was fifth in the 5k with a time of 17:17.83. The women’s 4×400-meter relay team finished second with a time of 3:49.75.

For the men, junior Paxson Menard finished first in the 5k with a time of 14:28.23. The men’s 5k was the final event of the night and Menard felt that it helped him.

“The later times helped with the weather conditions to make them ideal to run in,” he said.

Menard tried not to think too much heading into the race.

“I felt pretty good overall heading into the race, usually I try not to overthink it all and just go with the flow,” he said.

Redshirt junior Elven Walker and junior Jamal Robinson each had top five finishes on the track for the men. Walker was fifth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 15.46. Robinson was second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.97 and fifth in the 200-meter run with a time of 21.80. The men’s 4×400-meter relay team was fourth with a time of 3:22.07.

In the men’s field events, they had four top five finishers. Freshman Adam Kessler was third in the shot put with a throw of 53 feet .25 inches. Junior Kendall Williams was third in the long jump with his distance of 23 feet 8.75 inches. Freshman Ashton Wilson finished fourth in the high jump clearing 6 feet 6.75 inches. Sophomore Chrisford Stevens rounded out the group with a fourth place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 47 feet .75 inches.

Both the men and women’s teams finished second in team scoring behind the host Illinois. The teams will be sending limited athletes to the Drake Relays this week.

 

Mark Shanahan can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]