Trojans Have Productive Showing at Baker Relays

 Easton Padden clears 15'5" in the pole vault (photo:Karen Peck)

The Hannibal-LaGrange University track & field team made the trek to Baldwin City, Kansas to compete in the 70th Annual Baker Relays this past Friday. Although the Trojans were again faced with chilly weather conditions, the team came out and competed very well.

Cara Grinde cleared 3.20m to claim victory in the pole vault (photo:Karen Peck)

The meet was highlighted by the performance of freshman pole vaulter Easton Padden, whose victorious mark of 4.70m (15'5") in the pole vault qualified him for the 2011 NAIA Outdoor Track & Field National Championships, which take place at the end of May in Marion, Indiana. The Montana native was at home in the cold weather and had no problem clearing the mark needed to qualify. Fellow pole vaulter Cara Grinde was also victorious in the event on the women's side, clearing 3.20m (10'6"). In other field event action, Brittni Klundt returned to action in the high jump and came home with a solid 4th-place finish (1.49m) while Mandi Riddle finished 5th in the triple jump (9.99m) in her outdoor collegiate debut in the event. Jordan Creech led the men in the javelin, setting a new personal best with his toss of 43.48m, which was good for 8th place in the highly competitive event.Mike Clemons had a fourth place effort in the triple jump (12.04m) while teammate Bernardo Massuchin placed 6th in the long jump (6.46m).

Mandi Riddle racing to victory in the 400m Hurdles (photo:Karen Peck)

On the track, the women were led by Mandi Riddle, who was victorious in the 400m Hurdles, finishing in a time of 1:09.78. Breanna Newton competed in the 800m run and was the event runner-up with her time of 2:24.23. In the sprints, Sarah Wilson gave a strong effort in the 200m, finishing in 4th place (27.06) while teammate Jasman Edmond took 5th in the 100m dash (12.92). In the women's 5K, Nicole Griesbaum set a new school record in her debut in the event outdoors, placing 5th with a time of 20:09.27. Teammate Sarah Erickson, placed 8th in a personal best time of 20:57.10. The women's 4x400m relay team of Sarah Wilson, Holland McCoy, Mandi Riddle, and Breanna Newton broke the school record in that event by way of their 3rd place finish (4:20.27).

Jasman Edmond competing in the 100m dash (photo:Karen Peck)

The men were led on the track by John Anderson, as the sophomore from Hannibal finished as the runner up in the 400m hurdles. His time of 57.67 was just shy of his personal best and school record mark set last year. Andre Townsend made his outdoor debut as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury, but that did not prevent him from cruising to a 3rd place finish in the 400m dash, setting a new school record with his time of 49.86. In the 800m, Zach Lewis ran a strong race and held on for a 6th place finish in the event. His time of 2:03.51 set a new school record in the event. Senior Jason Cline competed in the 5K and set a new personal best with his 9th place finish (17:17.71).

Zach Lewis setting a new school record in the 800m

COACH COMMENTS: I was pleased with how the team battled through the cold and competed very well. We had another tough week of practice and have some soreness and fatigue that we are working through but I believe that this team will continue to show marked improvement each week and hopefully we can catch some spring weather soon!

With his NAIA qualifying performance, Easton Padden became the second HLG Trojan to qualify for the NAIA Outdoor national meet. Easton and the rest of the team will be back in action this Friday and Saturday at the Washington University Invitational in St. Louis, MO.

Trojans Open Outdoor Season at CMU

RESULTS

The Hannibal-LaGrange University track & field team opened up the outdoor portion of their season this past Saturday, traveling to Fayette, MO to compete in the Central Methodist Open. While the meet began under sunny skies, it soon gave way to a cold and steady rain that persisted for most of the meet. However, that did not keep the Trojans from posting several solid performances, including two event championships and four new school records.

WOMEN
The Lady Trojans were led by the strong showings of senior Cara Grinde and freshman Breanna Newton. Cara kicked off the outdoor season in style by winning the pole vault with a mark of 3.35m (10'11.75"). Later on in the day Breanna battled a cold and steady rain to place second in the 800m. Her time of 2:22.18 set a new school record in the event, which was her first collegiate outdoor meet.

On the track, junior Jasman Edmond placed 10th in the 100m dash with a time of 13.17, while freshman Sarah Wilson placed 9th in the 200m with a time of 27.47. Mandi Riddle made her debut in the 400m hurdles and placed 8th overall with a time of 1:11.67.

MEN
The men's team saw a number of school records fall in the field events. In the men's pole vault, freshman Easton Padden took home the top place with a mark of 4.40m (14'5.25"). After missing the end of the indoor season due to injury, sophomore Bernardo Massuchin returned to form in the long jump, finishing in a tie for 3rd place with a leap of 6.70m (21'11.75"). sophomore Micheal Clemons had a tremendous day a well, placing 3rd in the triple jump with a mark of 12.74m (41'9.75"). All three of those efforts set new school records in the respective events. In the javelin, defending AMC champion John Anderson battled the rain and slippery footing to finish 6th with a toss of 42.43m (139'2"), with teammate Branden Ramos finishing in a tie for 8th place in his debut in the event with a throw of 41.37m (135'9").

On the track, the men got a strong effort from junior Philiph Tonui, who placed 4th in the 5,000m with a time of 15:39.56. Freshman Cole Peck returned from an injury that ended his indoor season prematurely and raced to a 9th place finish in the 200m dash (23.59). John Anderson found success on the track as well, as the sophomore coupled his top-10 finish in the javelin with a 6th place effort in the 400m hurdles (58.14).

Coach Comments: It was great to finally get outdoors and, despite the rain, I thought we had some strong efforts. I was real pleased with several of our field event athletes, especially Mike Clemons, who gave us a glimpse of the potential he has. Easton and Cara battled tough conditions to win the pole vault and I liked the toughness I saw out of each of them.We will build off of this experience and hopefully it will serve as a springboard for rapid improvement over the coming weeks.We are dealing with a load of injuries, so getting everyone healthy for the home stretch is key. With so many young runners, I expect to see a lot of week-to-week improvement so that should be exciting.

The Trojans will travel to Baldwin City, KS this Saturday to compete in the 70th running of the Baker Relays, hosted by Baker University.

Andre's Race

Here is a link to the finals of the 60m Hurdles at the NAIA Indoor National Championships. Andre is in Lane 2 on the outside.We're working on getting a video directly on the blog. Thanks to Mrs. Padden for capturing the action!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=197791196912065

Trojans Compete at NAIA Indoor Nationals

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.