More Records Fall at IC Snowbird

RESULTS

The Hannibal-LaGrange track & field team continued their fast start to 2011 with a strong showing at the Illinois College Snowbird Invitational on Saturday in Jacksonville, IL. After a string of illnesses plagued the team throughout the week, the team battled back to perform well against competition that included the other schools of the AMC. Among the highlights were three individual wins and six new school records.

On the men's side, Bernardo Massuchin got the day started by claiming the title in the long jump competition. Bernardo had a great first jump of 6.87m (22'6.5") and that ended up being all he needed to do as that mark was 16 inches farther than the second-place effort. Bernardo's leap also shattered the previous school record and leaves him just 0.14m from qualifying for the national meet. Last week's AMC track & field athlete of the week Andre Townsend took a break from the hurdles but came out and, in convincing fashion, won the 200m dash in a time of 22.72. This effort breaks his own school record in the event, which was set a few weeks ago. Philiph Tonui looked very strong in taking home the title in the 3,000m race, winning in convincing fashion with a time of 8:55.39. In other action, Cole Peck (11th in 400m), Edward Gregg (10th in 800m), and Brett Jones (7th in pole vault) all had solid showings, along with John Anderson, whose 11th place finish in the 60m hurdles (9.18) left him just one spot short of the finals. Jumper Michael Clemons made a strong 2011 debut, finishing 10th in the triple jump after a 13th place showing in the long jump earlier in the day. At the end of the day, a weary group in the 4x400m relay battled and came through with an 8th place finish out of 23 teams. Overall the men finished 8th out of 17 teams in the meet with 33 points.

On the women's side, the Trojans got great performances from a number of athletes. Freshman Sarah Wilson continued to impress after placing 2nd in the 400m (60.81) and 4th in the 200m (27.36). Both times set new school records and Sarah was the top collegiate finisher in the 400m event, falling only to HLG assistant coach Bethany Scott, who won the event with a time of 60.08. Breanna Newton made her track debut after a record-setting cross country season and didn't disappoint, taking third place in the 800m race with a time of 2:28.58, a new school record. Breanna would later anchor the 4x400m relay team (also including Sarah Wilson, Mandi Riddle, and Caitlin McCoy) to a fifth place finish. Their time of 4:20.26 set a new school record in the event for the second consecutive week. Mandi Riddle also performed well in the 8oom race, placing 7th with a time of 2:34.13. On a day where a usually strong group of pole vaulters struggled, Cailey Wilkinson picked up the group, taking home a second-place finish in the event with a mark of 3.05m. Sarah Erickson (11th in 3,000m), Jocelyn Bright (7th in triple jump), and Abbie Herrold (11th in weight throw) also had strong performances for the Trojans. The overall performance by the women propelled them to a 6th place finish out of the 20 teams in attendance.

COACH COMMENTS: After a week of battling sickness, snow, and soreness, I thought the team came out and competed well. We had some definite bright spots and were able to see a new depth that we haven't had in year's past. With this being the first meet for a lot of our athletes, it was great to see where everyone stood and this meet will help us continue to stay focused on our goal of improving every week. Hopefully we have gotten all of the sickness out of our system and can get healthy and back to work in preparation for next weekend. Overall, I can't help but be pleased with the effort and I look forward to seeing this young group keep getting better each time out.

The team will travel to Bloomington, IL to compete at Illinois Wesleyan University next Saturday. The meet is set to begin at 10am.

NEW SCHOOL RECORDS SET AT IC SNOWBIRD MEET

MEN
Long Jump - 6.87m/22'6.5" (Bernardo Massuchin)
200m - 22.72 (Andre Townsend)

WOMEN
200m - 27.36 (Sarah Wilson)
400m - 60.81 (Sarah Wilson)
800m - 2:28.58 (Breanna Newton)
4x400m Relay - 4:20.26 (Sarah Wilson, Mandi Riddle, Caitlin McCoy, Breanna Newton)