The last weekend of the regular season proved to be eventful as the Hannibal-LaGrange University track & field team added one additional team member to the traveling party for the national meet next week in Indiana.
Competing in cold and rainy conditions, distance runner Nicole Griesbaum competed in the Bridge the Gap to Health Half Marathon in Quincy, IL on Saturday and completed the 13.1 mile course in a blazing time of 1:30:35. That effort established a new school record in the event and was well under the automatic qualifying time for the marathon at the 2011 NAIA National Championships. Nicole also finished as the second female finisher and was 13th out of 430 total competitors. Teammate Zach Lewis compete in the race as well, and he came through with a solid half marathon debut, finishing first in his age group and 18th overall in a time of 1:31:40.
Three members of the men's team competed in the Chicago area this weekend and, despite battling poor weather, came through with some solid performances.
On Friday, the group competed at North Central College. Chris Smith competed in the high jump and placed 6th with a best jump of 1.95m (6'4.75"). Andre Townsend placed 5rd in the 100m dash (10.83) and came back to take a 3rd place finish in the 200m dash (21.97). Both of those efforts established new school records that Andre already held. Easton Padden had another solid effort in the pole vault, placing 7th with a top vault of 4.72m (15'5.75").
With the regular season now complete, the following six Hannibal-LaGrange track & field athletes will set their sights on the 2011 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, which will be held in Marion, Indiana, on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University, May 26-28:
WOMEN
Breanna Newton - 1500m
Nicole Griesbaum - Marathon
Holland McCoy - High Jump
MEN
Andre Townsend - 110m hurdles
Philiph Tonui - Marathon
Easton Padden - Pole Vault
Stay tuned to the blog for updates from the national meet!
No comments:
Post a Comment