CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Thayer Harrison broke a school record and claimed the top spot in the triple jump leading the SIUE men's track and field team Saturday at the 31st Annual Joey Haines Invitational.
The freshman won the event with an Ohio Valley Conference-leading leap of 48 feet, 9 inches breaking Marvell Seals' record of 48-8.75 set in 2002.
"I am excited to be able to produce for the team," said Harrison. "I had a goal coming to SIUE to break a school record, and I am just happy to be able to accomplish that."
"I told Thayer before the event that we were looking for some energy and needed a spark, and he responded," said SIUE Head Coach Kareem Jackson. "He came up with a huge jump, and I was really happy to see him jump the way he did."
Forrest Knight also recorded a victory for the Cougars in the 400 hurdles with a winning time of 54.23 seconds. Joshua Thomas was nipping at his heels finishing second in 54.25.
A trio of Cougars placed in the top 10 in the 400 meters led by Thomas' fourth-place finish with a time of 49.67. Marc Presley(50.85) and Ahmad Evans (51.53) were close behind in eighth and ninth, respectively.
Darius Smith finished fourth in the 200 meters (22.09) and Rickie Walls placed ninth in the 100 meters (11.78).
Kyle Lombardino led the SIUE throwers with a fourth-place finish in the discus with a mark of 156-10.
Jamil Mashni and Greg Block each turned in a pair of top-10 finishes. Mashni placed fifth in the shot put (52-7.25) and seventh in the discus (150-4), while Block placed eighth (51-4.25) and 10th (139-10) in the same events.
Marc Amarillas (4:03.75) and Shawn Dillard (4:05.49) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 1,500 meters.
J.D. Wynn also recorded a top 10 for the Cougars placing fifth in the 3,000 steeplechase crossing the finish line in 10:34.88.
The 4x400 relay team of Presley, Evans, Knight, and Thomas closed the day by running to a second-place time of 3 minutes, 18.46 seconds.
"We are really looking forward to WKU next weekend the kids are excited to get a chance to run there."
The Cougars will next compete April 14 at the Hilltopper Relays hosted by Western Kentucky.
