Andre Towsend finished 6th in finals of 110m Hurdles w/time of 14.34. Stumbled badly out of blocks but recovered enough to earn All-American honors.

Andre Townsend ran 14.37 in semis of 110m Hurdles. Finished 2nd in heat and advanced to finals at 4:40pm EST today.

Andre competes in 110m Hurdle semis in 30 minutes. This place has nicest portable bathrooms I've ever seen!

Andre Townsend ran 14.17 in prelims of 110m hurdles, advancing to semifinals with second fastest time overall. He runs tomorrow at 1pm EST.

NAIA Championships start today. Andre Townsend will run prelims of 110m Hurdles at 2:40 EST today.

Griesbaum Qualifies as Trojans Wrap Up Regular Season

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!

Outstanding Efforts for Trio at Indiana University

RESULTS

A trio of Hannibal-Lagrange Track & Field athletes traveled to Bloomington, Indiana this past Friday to compete in the prestigious Bill Hayes Invitational, held on the campus of Indiana University. Each athlete came to compete against tremendous competition, and they rose to the occasion with some outstanding results.

Breanna Newton placed 3^rd in the 1500m run in a time of 4:40.22. Running in a heat of all NCAA Division 1 athletes, Breanna cut five seconds off of her personal best time and that time allowed her to be the 5^th HLG athlete to qualify for the 2011 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships later this month. The time also established a new HLG school record.

Easton Padden: Placed 4^th in the pole vault with a personal best and school record mark of 4.85m (15’11”). Easton’s mark surpasses the NAIA automatic qualifying standard for the championship meet and has him ranked #6 in the NAIA going into the final week of the regular season.

Andre Townsend: Has already qualified for the national meet in both the 110m hurdles and 400m Hurdles and competed in the 100m and 200m dashes at IU as he is working back into form after a mid-season injury. Andre placed 11^th in the 100m dash (11.02) and 12^th in the 200m (22.19) and both times established new school records.

Assistant Coach Jason Scott cleared 5.20m (17'0.75") in the pole vault to take home the victory in that event.

As we head into the final week of the regular season, a few more athletes will be competing to add to the growing list of HLG athletes who have qualified for the national meet. On Thursday, May 12, Carissa Eichmeyer will travel to St. Louis to compete in a 5K race walk. On Saturday, May 14, Nicole Griesbaum will be running the Bridge the Gap to Health Half Marathon in Quincy, IL in an attempt to qualify for the marathon, while Chris Smith (high jump) and John Anderson (400m Hurdles) will compete at a last chance meet hosted by Emporia State University in Emporia, KS.

The NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships will be held May 26-28 in Marion, Indiana on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University.

Andre townsend goes 22.19 in 200m. Earlier in the day, Andre went 11.02 in 100m dash.

Easton Padden just cleared 15' 10" in pole vault and is still in the competition. That mark is well over the A standard for NAIA National meet.

Breanna runs 4:40.22 in 1500 to place 4th and qualify for NAIA National meet.