Pole vaulters set up personal bests

Junior sprinter Marcus Williams finishes .07 seconds behind Rend Lake College freshman Dushane Farrier in the men's 4x100 meter relay during the Big Blue Classic at O'Brien Field on Saturday.(Jordan Boner/The Daily Eastern News)

Freshman Abby Schmitz continues to make leaps and bounds in the pole vault. 

Schmitz cleared 11 feet, 0.25 inches, a personal best, which allowed her to finish in third place at the Big Blue Classic Friday afternoon at O'Brien Field.

"It's nice," she said. "It feels rewarding."

Her vault moved her into fourth place all-time.

Schmitz never vaulted above 9'6'' in high school. She never won a sectional meet. She never qualified for the state championships, which are held at Eastern.

"It was really positive and exciting to hit," she said. "It's hard to be happy with what I got and but also be OK, and I'm ready to get the next height."

Schmitz is only the fourth female pole-vaulter to vault over 11 feet.

Freshman Scott Mammoser also set a personal best of 15'7'' but finished second to senior Dorrian White who had a vault of 15'7''. Mammoser finished second because he missed more attempts at the height.

Moving up on the top 10

Eastern's female jumpers were able to move up the career charts at the Big Blue Classic. 

Freshman Jamiee Roy's long jump mark of 18'11.25" moved her into 10th place all-time in Eastern program history. The jump was wind-aided.

This is a collegiate best for Roy; she has jumped over 19 feet in high school.

"We really haven't had a lot of rest," Roy said. "I was pretty happy to PR without a lot of rest."

Sophomore Queenie Adeboyejo won the triple jump with a mark of 38'10.50", which landed her into seventh place on the Eastern career list.

Dole wins 10,000-meter race

Freshman Liz Dole pulled away late in the 10,000-meter race to capture the event.

Dole and sophomore Brittany Arthur stayed in a pack with an Illinois Wesleyan runner, but Dole finished strong in the final 1,200 meters.

Dole finished in 39:21.70, and Arthur finished in 39:28.10.

Eastern head coach Tom Akers was impressed with Dole and Arthur, who set personal bests on Friday night.

"With the windy conditions, there's still a lot more there," Akers said. "I think that they can continue to improve. They continue to run real well for us." 

Akers impressed with Carney

Eastern senior Meghan Carney finished eighth in her first 1,500-meter run under five minutes. She finished in 4:57.50. 

"Meghan had a really good meet," Akers said. "Things are starting to fall in place for her."

Carney was part of the winning 3,200-meter relay team and on the second-place 1,600-meter relay team. 

National rankings

Eastern senior Kandace Arnold ranks 16th in the NCAA West Region in the shot put and 28th in the discus. Only the top 48 marks in each event qualify for the NCAA Regional.

The Panthers return to action on Friday at Western Illinois Lee Calhoun Invitational in Macomb.

Kevin Murphy can be reached at 581-7944 or kjmurphy@eiu.edu.