Women Lead Day One Of OVC Track Meet

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois women’s indoor track held the overall lead after day one of the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track Championships contested at Lantz Indoor Fieldhouse while the Panther men were second behind Southeast Missouri State.

EIU picked up two first place finishes on the men’s side and one on the women’s to end a successful opening night. Ryan Bennett won the weight throw with a distance of 55’05.75”. Kandace Arnold gave the Panthers a sweep in the weight throw winning the women’s title with a mark of 58’07.50”.

In the men’s high jump junior Ian Winston took home first place with a mark of 6’10.75” as he won the event two inches. In the women’s high jump five athletes each hit a height of 5’04.25” with Ebony Brisky of Jacksonville State winning the based on number of attempts. EIU’s Nicole Walcott and Megan Gingerich tied for second.

The EIU men’s and women’s distance medley relay teams also placed second to cap off the night.

Below is a quick synopsis of the finals from day one.

Women’s High Jump – Ebony Brisky of Jacksonville State edged Megan Gingerich and Nicole Walcott of Eastern Illinois for first place with five competitors all reaching 5’04.25” on the jump. Brisky placed first with Gingerich and Walcott tying for second. Amanda McCoy of Austin Peay and Lanika Horn of Tennessee State also hit the 5’04.25” mark but placed fourth and fifth based on number of attempts.

Men’s Long Jump – Tyler Terry of Southeast Missouri first with a jump of 24’05.75”. Darreal Beal of Tennessee State was second at 24’00.75”.

Men’s Weight Throw – Ryan Bennett of Eastern Illinois repeated as the champion after setting the OVC championship record in 2006. He won this year with a toss of 55’05.75”. Josh Uchtman of SEMO was second at 54’06”.

Women’s Weight Throw – Kandace Arnold of Eastern Illinois edged Shameka Dial of Murray State for the OVC title. Arnold hit 58’07.50” to win the event with Dial’s best mark coming at 57’10.50”.

Men’s High Jump – Ian Winston of Eastern Illinois won the men’s high jump with a mark of 6’10.25”. Josh Sutton of Southeast Missouri was two inches behind in second place at 6’08.25”.

Women’s Long Jump – Martinique Guice of Tennessee State captured the women’s long jump with a leap of 18’07.75” with Rachel Kahle of Southeast Missouri placing second at 18’04.50”.

Distance Medley Relay – The men’s distance medley was won by Eastern Kentucky in a time of 10:15.62 with Eastern Illinois placing second at 10:31.06. In the women’s DMR, Stephanie Place of Tennessee Tech rallied on the final two laps of the race to lift the Golden Eagles to the win with a time of 12:21.09. Eastern Illinois which led the second and third legs finished in second place at 12:24.41.

5,000 meter run – In the men’s 5,000 meter run SEMO swept the top two spots with co-OVC Freshman of the Year steepleweb Shipley winning the event at 15:06.90. His teammate Jason Lumpkin was second at 15:12.02. In the women’s 5,000 meter run Katelyn Jones of Murray State pulled away in the final laps to win with a mark of 17:30.94. Stephanie Place of TTU was second at 17:38.31.

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS – DAY ONE 

In the men’s first day championship standings – Southeast Missouri leads with 70 points followed by Eastern Illinois at 38. Defending indoor champion Eastern Kentucky is third with 29 points followed by Tennessee State with 15.

In the women’s first day championship standings Eastern Illinois held the lead with 47 points followed by Murray State in second at 33 and Southeast Missouri in third with 31.50. Defending women’s champion Tennessee State had 30.50 followed by Tennessee Tech at 18, Jacksonville State at 14, Austin Peat with 11 and Eastern Kentucky with 9.