LINCOLN, Neb. – The SIUE track and field program kicked off its indoor season Friday afternoon by taking part in the first day of competition at the Holiday Inn Invitational inside Nebraska's Devaney Sports Center.
"Overall, it was relatively smooth for the opening meet," Interim Head Coach Eileen McAllister said.
On the women's side, LaDonna Caston (8.65) and Jatavia Wright (8.66) finished second and third, respectively, in the preliminaries of the 60 meter hurdles to qualify for finals on Saturday. Caston's finish was also a new personal best for the sophomore.
Senior Claire Brown finished fourth in the women's 3,000 meters with a personal best time of 10:13.68. Other personal bests on the women's side included Jessica Oranika in the 60 meters (8.03) and Renee Goodenough in the mile (5:21.63).
"LaDonna and Jessica started the meet off very well," McAllister said. "Claire had a tremendous race. She just kept moving up and looked very strong. It was also great to see Renee PR. She has been through a lot in college and has worked hard to get back."
In the field events, Elizabeth Hampl finished eighth in the weight throw finals with a mark of 51-0.75 while Wright took eighth in the long jump (18-4.25).
For the men, Josh Thomas ran the seventh-fastest time in the 60 meter hurdles preliminaries (8.49) to book a place in Saturday's finals. Darius Smith qualified for Saturday's final in the 60 meter dash with a finish of 6.96.
La'Derrick Ward finished third in the men's long jump with a mark of 23-10.25. In the high jump, freshman Julian Harvey finished third with a leap of 6-6.25 while fellow freshman Travis Kidd finished sixth (6-4.75).
In the men's throws, Greg Block finished seventh in the weight throw with a toss of 53-7.5.
The second and final day of competition in Lincoln will take place Saturday, with field events beginning at 11 a.m. before track events start at noon.
"The whole point of coming up here was to gain experience in a two-day meet, so the key will be how we come back tomorrow," McAllister added.
