Panthers Sweep OVC Indoor Championship Title

OVC Final Results | Day One Recap | Photo Gallery ... Awards Photo Gallery ... (by Sandy King)

CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Eastern Illinois men's and women's indoor track & field teams won the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championship on Saturday inside the Lantz Fieldhouse. It marked the first time since the 2012 championship, that both Eastern Illinois teams won the indoor conference title in the same year. The 2017 title marked the 17th in program history for the EIU men and the seventh for the EIU women.

Tom Akers, EIU director of track & field, was named the Men's Coach of the Year while Tennessee Tech's, Wayne Angel, earned the Women's Coach of the Year. The 2017 honor marks the second-straight for Akers as he earned the title after the EIU men won the 2016 OVC Indoor Track & Field Championship last season.

The Tennessee State men and Eastern Kentucky men finished in a tie for second place with 120 points. SIUE finished third with 94 points followed by Southeast Missouri (92), Belmont (74) and UT Martin (19).

On the women's side, Tennessee Tech finished in second place with 111 points followed by Tennessee State (110), Eastern Kentucky (71), Austin Peay (70), Murray State (54.5), Jacksonville State (46.5), SIUE (30), Southeast Missouri (19), UT Maritn (17), Belmont (7) and Morehead State (2).

The Panthers had their best showing in the 60-meter dash as Eastern Illinois claimed the first three spots in the event. Johnathan Boey led the way at 6.74, followed by Jamal Robinson at 6.76, and Brandan Lane at 6.92.

Robinson followed his second-place finish with a first-place finish in the 200-meter dash. Robinson finished the event at 21.82 and edged out SEMO's Brannan Wright (22.04) and Malik Wright (22.23), who finished the event in second and third respectively.

EIU's John Piper earned a gold medal in the 60-meter hurdle as he crossed the line at 8.07, finishing just ahead of Tennessee State's Jemarruse Amos (8.14) and Belmont's Caleb Corprew (8.17).

The Panthers earned their final top-three finish in the men's running events during the mile run. Riley McInerney placed second in the event at 4:10.21, as Eastern Kentucky's Jamaine Coleman (4:08.71) and Erick Rotich (4:13.46) placed first and third respectively.

Eastern Illinois' Adam Kessler and Riley Kittridge finished in first and second respectively in the shot put. Kessler recorded the top-toss in the event at 58'05.50", while Kittridge ended at 57'02.00". Tennessee State's Kyle Washington-Scott recorded the third-best throw in the event at 56'03.75".

Kristen Paris led the way for the EIU women with her first-place finish in the women's 800-meter run. Paris finished the event at 2:11.89, ending just ahead of Tennessee State's Christian Pryor at 2:13.21 and EKU's Haley Yost at 2:15.83.

Darneisha Spann posted the second-best time in the 60-meter hurdles with her time of 8.49, as the new conference record holder in the event, Amber Hughes, placed first at 8.30. Hughes' teammate, Maya Ramsey, finished in third at 8.56.

Nyjah Lane recorded the third-best time in the 60-meter dash to lead the EIU women in the event. Lane ended the event at 7.54, to finish behind TSU's Hughes at 7.44 and Murray State's Tamdra Lawrence at 7.50.

Julie James earned the final top-three finish for the EIU women in the running events as she placed third in the mile run with a time of 4:54.85. EKU's Yost won the event at 4:53.65, while TTU's Micayla Rennick took second at 4:54.77.

Bryn Buckwalter took silver in the shot put as the senior recorded a toss of 49'08.25". Courtney Bennett of Jacksonville State won the event at 49'08.75", while teammate, Sophie Merritt, won bronze at 47'09.00".

Tennessee State's Quamel Prince earned a pair of first-place finishes during the final day of competition at the OVC Championship. Prince earned his first top-time in the 400-meter dash at 47.99, and followed that with the best-time in the 800-meter run at 1:51.98. SEMO's Jarred Pasley (48.29) and Jordan Barber (49.23) finished in second and third in the 400-meter dash. EKU's Rotich earned a silver medal in the 800-meter with his time of 1:52.39, while Matthew O'Connor from SIUE earned bronze at 1:53.37.

SIUE's Keith Meyer won the men's 3000-meter run with a final time of 8:20.46. His time was followed by Amos Kosgey from EKU at 8:23.66 and Ryan Ford from UT Martin at 8:27.23.
In the final men's running event of the day, SEMO took gold in the 4x400-meter relay with a final time of 3:16.85. Tennessee State took silver in the event at 3:17.33, with Eastern Kentucky earning bronze with a time of 3:23.70.

SEMO's Nick South earned gold in the men's heptathlon as he finished with 4,871 total points. EKU's Yoshua Reed placed second at 4,718 points, with Belmont's Ryan Lipe placing in third at 4,662 points.

In the field events, Braden Carei of Belmont beat out the competition in the pole vault as he cleared the bar at 16'01.25". SEMO earned the next four finishes in the event, led by Tyler Jourdan's second-place finish at 15'07.25" and Dylan Rush's third-place finish at 15'07.25".

After a pair of first-place finishes in field events during the opening day of competition yesterday, SIUE's Julian Harvey recorded the best mark in the triple jump as he cleared a distance of 51'00.25". Kareem Nicholas of TSU took second in the event at 48'05.50", while SIUE's Mladen Hristov took third at 48'04.50".

TTU's Naasha Robinson won gold in the women's 200-meter dash at 24.01 and finished just ahead of TSU's Hughes at 24.24 and Murray State's Lawrence at 24.42.

Robinson followed that with a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash as she set a new Lantz Fieldhouse record at 54.14. Her teammate, D'Airien Jackson, placed second in the event at 54.38, while Murray State's Norma Abdur-Rafia placed third with a time of 56.94.

In the women's 3000-meter run, EKU's Charlotte Imer took gold at 9:43.25, while UT Martin's Ann Asipan earned a silver medal at 9:46.97 and SEMO's Kaitlyn Shea earned bronze at 9:48.49.

Tennessee Tech swept the women's relay events as the Golden Eagles won the 4x400-meter relay on Saturday with a new facility record of 3:46.60. Tennessee State finished in second at 3:47.41, with Austin Peay rounding out the top-three at 3:54.22.

In the field events, Austin Peay placed first and second in the women's pole vault. Savanah Amato won the event at 12'09.00", as her teammate, Dascha Hix, placed second at 12'03.25". JSU's Samantha Patterson placed third at 11'09.25".

TSU's Hughes completed her day with a first-place finish in the triple jump. Hughes record the top-mark at 42'01.25". APSU's Kaylnn Pitts placed second at 41'05.75", with EKU's Darrian Botts rounding out the top-three at 41'03.25".

The top-two finishers in each event earned OVC All-Conference First Team and Second Team honors.

Barring any national qualifiers, the Eastern Illinois track & field teams will now prepare for the outdoor season. The Panthers will open up competition at Southern Illinois on Mar. 25.