Five members of the Hannibal-LaGrange track & field team traveled to Geneva, Ohio to compete in the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships, which were held March at the GaREAT Complex near Lake Erie.In what has been a historic start to the track & field season, the group made sure to continue that trend as the indoor season came to a close.
Andre Townsend - 2011 NAIA Indoor track & Field All-American!
(photo:Carissa Eichmeyer)
Junior Andre Townsend (Chicago, IL) became HLG's first track & field All-American as he was the runner-up in the 60m Hurdles. Andre's time of 7.98 in the finals was just 0.02 seconds behind the winner, Edward Stewart of Central Methodist. After a solid run in the prelims, Andre slipped out of the blocks in the semifinals and, after nearly falling just before the first hurdle, he managed to recover a qualify for the finals with the 7th best time. With only eight athletes qualifying for the final, Andre was assigned to lane 1, which was not ideal considering the top runners get the middle lanes. However, Andre showed up to the track on Saturday determined to not let that hold him back and ran a tremendous race in the finals. In addition to Andre being recognized as the AMC's only All-American, his eight points scored in the 60m hurdles allowed HLG to finish in a tie for 24th place out of 55 scoring teams in the championship meet.
Andre showing off his hard-earned hardware!
(photo:Carissa Eichmeyer)
Junior Philiph Tonui (Kericho, Kenya) competed in the 5,000m run on Thursday. After battling illnes for much of the past two weeks, we knew that he wasn't going to be at 100%. However, Philiph ran a brave race and ended up placing 20th overall with a time of 15:11.40. This time was a personal best for Philiph and broke his own school record in the event. Philiph's time was also a 24 second improvement over his 5K race at last year's Indoor national meet.
Freshman Easton Padden (Laurel, MT) competed in the pole vault. After clearing the opening height of 4.50m (14'9"), he had three strong attempts at the next height, especially his first, where he was a foot over the bar but hit it on the way down. Unfortunately Easton was not able to clear the second height but still managed to place 13th in the event.
Freshman Breanna Newton (Rochelle, IL) competed in the 1,000m run. Last month at Cedarville, Breanna ran the same race, qualifying with an automatic time in her debut in the event. Much like Philiph, Breanna spent most of nationals week dealing with sickness but she went out and gave a gritty performance. Knowing that she had to be in the top two of her preliminary heat to qualify, Breanna went out and was aggressive and the race's outset. With one lap to go (300m), she found herself side by side with eventual champion Jessica Smith of Simon Fraser. Unfortunately she was not able to hold that position and ended up placing 7th in her heat. Breanna's final time was 3:02.49, which was good for 15th place in her inaugural track national meet.
Senior Carissa Eichmeyer (Marthasville, MO) competed in the 3,000m race walk and came through with a 12th place finish in a time of 18:44.26. After getting a late start to the indoor season due to an injury, it was a great accomplishment for Carissa to qualify once again for the national meet and, with her just now starting to get back into form, she is looking forward to a strong showing during the outdoor season.
HLG Track & Field team at NAIA Indoor Nationals
(photo:Carissa Eichmeyer)
After enjoying Spring Break, the HLG Track & Field team will head outdoors for the second half of their season. With this move brings renewed hopes and the pursuit of an AMC championship and additional qualifiers for the NAIA Outdoor championships in May. The team will compete in their first outdoor meet on March 19 at Central Methodist University in Fayette, MO.
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