Jan. 22, 2012

Complete Results

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The SIUE women's track and field team finished the Illini Classic fourth in a tough field over the weekend from the University of Illinois Armory.

The Cougars' trio of throwers had an impressive day as Colleen McDonough, Kristin Wykoff, and Elizabeth Hampl scored points in both the shot put and weight throw all setting personal bests along the way.

"The throwers had a fantastic day," SIUE Head Coach Kareem Jackson said. "They did an outstanding job."

Hampl led the way placing fourth in the shot put with a toss of 44 feet, 0.5 inches before finishing seventh in the weight throw reaching 50-9.5.

McDonough placed fifth in the weight throw with a personal best of 51-7 and sixth in the shot put throwing 42-6.75.

Not to be outdone, Wykoff scored team points in the shot put (41-8.5) and weight throw (49-10) placing seventh and eighth, respectively.

Freshman Jatavia Wright followed her record-breaking performance Friday scoring points for the Cougars in three separate events Saturday. Her effort in the pentathlon ranked her as the No. 3 freshman and inside the top 20 in the NCAA in the event.

Wright placed fifth in both the 60 hurdles (8.80) and the long jump (17-5.5) while also finishing eighth in the triple jump (36-1.25).

Junior Michelle Higgins also scored in the triple jump (36-9.5) and the 60 hurdles (9.15) placing fourth and fifth, respectively.

SIUE scored a pair of runners in the 800 meters led by Ioana Citireag's fifth-place finish in a time of 2 minutes, 17.26 seconds. Dede Lofton finished eighth in 2:21.44.

Illinois claimed the top team spot with 227 points. SIUE finished with 61 total points for fourth place.

The Cougars return to action Jan. 27 and 28 at the Indiana Relays in Bloomington, Ind.

-siue cougars-