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.