Trailblazer Track and Field enjoys good day at Brescia Bearcat Twilight meet

OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Vincennes University Men's and Women's Track and Field teams competed Friday afternoon at the Brescia Bearcat Twilight Invitational in Owensboro.

The VU Men's team had a very good showing, ending the day with a second-place finish as a team, with the VU Women's team placing ninth as a team.

"What looked like it was going to be our first meet with good weather turned into another cool, rainy event," VU Head Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. "But as they have done all season, these kids stepped up and performed well."

"We went into this meet with the idea of relaxing a bit and having a good time before we start dialing in for Little State Championship next weekend and Nationals," Rogier added. "We mixed up some things and put some people in different events which I think for the most part went really well."

Vincennes' men's team was led by a first-place finish by freshman Jalen Bowman (Evansville, Ind.) in the 400 meters with a time of 49.54 seconds.

Bowman was followed by fellow freshman Yamar Lyons (Kalamazoo, Mich.) who placed sixth at 51.76 seconds.

Bowman also went on to pick up a pair of wins in the relay races, winning the 4x100 Relay with sophomore Damien Ross (East St. Louis, Ill.) and Kyle Stewart (Evansville, Ind.) and freshman Collin Sutton (New Albany, Ind.) at 42.38 seconds.

Bowman then bounced back to win the 4x400 Relay with Sutton and sophomores Trenton Faulkner (Vincennes, Ind.) and Manamanya Opiew (Indianapolis, Ind.) at 3:27.31.

The Trailblazer relay team of freshman Nicholas Stanislaus (Grenada), Ross, sophomore James Nzoyikorera (Indianapolis, Ind.) and freshman Mathew Keitany (Kenya) placed second in the 4x400 Relay, ending with a time of 3:35.90.

Mathew Keitany took home first place in the 1500 meters at 4:05.74 with Manamanya Opiew coming in seventh at 4:13.11.

Nicholas Stanislaus had a busy day as well, placing seventh in the 110 meter hurdles at 18.15 seconds and fourth in the Pole Vault with a height of 3.65 meters.

Damien Ross placed fourth in the 400 meter hurdles, ending with a time of 1:00.09.

Sophomore Ian Boit (Eldoret, Kenya) placed second in the 3000 meters at 9:10.89, with fellow sophomore Walter Tanui (Eldoret, Kenya) finishing seventh at 9:29.94.

Freshman Trey Browne took home sixth place in the 3000 meter Steeplechase, with a time of 10:42.16.

Freshman Ernest Momodu (Indianapolis, Ind.) rounds out the VU Men's runners with an eighth-place finish in the 800 meter race at 2:03.67.

In the field events, Vincennes picked up a pair of wins by sophomore Matthew Frazier (Franklin, Ind.) and Kyle Stewart.

Frazier took home the top spot in the Pole Vault after with a height of 4.10 meters.

Stewart came away with first-place in the Long Jump with a distance of 7.13 meters.

Sophomore Mason Harmes (Borden, Ind.) and freshman David Beadle (Jamaica) both placed in the Discus throw with Harmes ending fifth at 40.57 meters and Beadle placing eighth at 35.59 meters.

Harmes also placed seventh in the Shot Put with a throw of 11.85 meters.

"The distance crew had a great day with some big PRs," Rogier said. "Ian Boit ran really well and dropped his PR in the 3000 by 20 seconds, which earned him the Trailblazer Willie Award for this meet. He looked great start to finish and will just keep getting better."

"Mathew is always a competitor and won the 1500 and just always makes things look easy," Rogier added. "Kyle had another good day with a series of jumps and again with over seven meters. He also ran a leg of the winning 4x100 and 4x400 Relays."

"We switched up Jalen this meet from the short sprints and let him run the 400, which he won going away," Rogier said. "He also was a triple winner, as he teamed up with Kyle on the 4x100 and 4x400 Relay teams."

"Collin and Damien completed the 4x100 relay, which ran a season best 42.3 seconds," Rogier added. "Collin and Manny were part of the winning 4x400 team which won by a large margin over the other schools."

"Our second 4x400 relay team was an easy second place with Yamar, Ernest Trenton and Mathew making up the team," Rogier added. "It was an impressive way to end the meet with our two relay teams going 1-2."

"Matthew Frazier won the Pole Vault with a season best 4.10 jump," Rogier said. "Hopefully this is him returning to form where he placed at Nationals last year."

"Nicholas Stanislaus was an iron man, competing in the pole vault, long jump and 110 hurdles at the same time," Rogier added. "These are difficult events by themselves, much less when you are running out of a pit to the next event and back. He is preparing for a decathlon meet this week, with sites on being a top competitor at Nationals in May."

"The men's team finished with a strong second-place finish in team scoring," Rogier said. "We took a lot of points off the table by switching up some of our events, but it was a really enjoyable meet. I am very proud of both our teams."

The VU Women's team was headlined by a second-place finish in the 4x400 Relay by sophomores Chloe Knepp (Montgomery, Ind.), Kaitlyn Koenig (Terre Haute, Ind.) and Kyra Young (South Bend, Ind.) and freshman Brittany Page (Bicknell, Ind.) with a time of 4:28.34.

Young would go on to place fifth in the 3000 meters at 11:34.57 and eighth in the 1500 meters at 5:12.60.

Freshman Hope Laughlin finished right behind Young in the 3000 meter race, placing sixth at 11:42.20.

Koenig came away with a seventh-place finish in the 3000 meter Steeplechase with a time of 13:27.72.

Brittany Page placed eighth in the 800 meter race at 2:30.15.

Sophomore Asia McLemore (Michigan City, Ind.) placed fifth in the 200 meter sprint, finishing at 29.00 seconds.

The Trailblazer scorers were rounded out by a sixth-place finish in the Shot Put by VU freshman Giorgia Fino (Italy) who ended with a throw of 9.77 meters.

"Hope had a huge PR in the 3000 by 14 seconds," Rogier added. "I believe she will keep dropping her times. Brittany stepped up and ran a very good 800 and PR'd by over seven seconds. It was nice to see her hard work pay off."

Vincennes will look to continue this momentum into their meet next weekend when VU takes part in the Indiana Little State Championships in Marion, Ind. The two-day meet will begin on Friday, April 22 and finish on Saturday, April 23.

TEAM RESULTS

VU Men – 2nd (106)

VU Women – 9th (26)

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

MEN'S RESULTS

400m

Jalen Bowman – 1 (49.54)

Yamar Lyons – 6 (51.76)

800m

Ernest Momodu – 8 (2:03.67)

1500m

Mathew Keitany – 1 (4:05.74)

Manamanya Opiew – 7 (4:13.11)

3000m

Ian Boit – 2 (9:10.89)

Walter Tanui – 7 (9:29.94)

110m Hurdles

Nicholas Stanislaus – 7 (18.15)

400m Hurdles

Damien Ross – 4 (1:00.09)

3000 Steeplechase

Trey Browne – 6 (10:42.16)

4x100 Relay

(Ross, Stewart, Sutton, Bowman) – 1 (42.38)

4x400 Relay

(Bowman, Faulkner, Sutton, Opiew) – 1 (3:27.31)

(Stanislaus, Ross, Nzoyikorera, Keitany) – 2 (3:35.90)

Pole Vault

Matthew Frazier – 1 (4.10m)

Nicholas Stanislaus – 4 (3.65m)

Long Jump

Kyle Stewart – 1 (7.13m)

Shot Put

Mason Harmes – 7 (11.85m)

Discus

Mason Harmes – 5 (40.57m)

David Beadle – 8 (35.59m)

WOMEN'S RESULTS

200m

Asia McLemore – 5 (29.00)

800m

Brittany Page – 8 (2:30.15)

1500m

Kyra Young – 8 (5:12.60)

3000m

Kyra Young – 5 (11:34.57)

Hope Laughlin – 6 (11:42.20)

3000 Steeplechase

Kaitlyn Koenig – 7 (13:27.72)

4x400 Relay

(Knepp, Page, Koenig, Young) – 2 (4:28.34)

Shot Put

Giorgia Fino – 6 (9.77m)