TERRE HAUTE, Ind.- The Bellarmine University men's and women's track teams competed at the 2011 Engineer Invitational held by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on Saturday. The women placed third and the men finished fourth as both teams missed higher finishes by just one point apiece.
For the women, sophomores
Rachel Eyckmans and
Kristin Hamrick led a solid weekend of performances for the women. Eyckmans won both the 55m and 200m in school record times at the Engineer Invitational on Saturday. Eyckmans times of 7.35 for 55m and 26.85 for 200m shattered the existing marks held by her teammates
Elaine Kuntz and
Katie Neiser respectively. Eyckmans was also the lead off leg on the second place 4 x 200m relay.
Hamrick won the open 400m in 1:01.31 (the second fastest indoor 400m time in school history) and ran one of the legs on winning 4 x 400m relay in the school record time of 4:07.02. Hamrick was doubling back for the Knights as she ran a sizzling 59.0 400m leg on the Distance Medley Relay team that competed at IU the night before. The BU women's DMR team just missed NCAA qualifying status by posting a time of 12:17.20 (.20 seconds from NCAA qualifying). The team was comprised of
Angela Musk (3:42.7 for 1200m),
Carissa Martin (2:20.3 for 800m),
Meghan Shagena (5:15.2 for 1600m) and Hamrick (59.0 for 400m).
At the Engineer Invitational, Freshman
Meghan Jones narrowly missed NCAA qualifying in the women's high jump when she nudged the bar off on her third attempt at 5'6” and had to settle for a second place finish with a leap of 5'4”.
For the men, freshman Damar Williams continued his winning ways in the 55m. Williams narrowly missed breaking his own 55m school record that he set last week in winning the 55m in 6.55 (last week he ran 6.53). Williams is currently the fastest man in the GLVC. Williams also ran a leg on the 4 x 400m relay that was edged out to finish second less than a second off the school record.
The Knights continued to show dominance in the 400m as they went 1-2-4 with sophomore Sean Klosterman and graduate student Zach Pittman running the identical time of 50.67 in winning their respective heats.
Reigning GLVC Track Athlete of the Week, freshman Robert Sandlin smashed the freshman record in the mile by posting a time of 4:18.2. Sandlin's time is more than three seconds faster than anyone else in the GLVC so far this season.
In the field events, the men's throwing trio of graduate student Elliot Mattingly, and sophomores Jon Neff and Wes Fehrenbacher, continue to shine in the 35 lb weight throw. The trio went 3-4-9 in an extremely competitive event with throws of 16.44m, 15.55m and 14.35m respectively. Neff's heave of 15.55m and Fehrenbacher's toss of 14.35m were personal bests.
The Knights look to take some of these positives on both the men's and women's sides and continue to build off of them next week at Indiana University for the Hoosier Invitational. Both teams will also be sending athletes to compete at Depauw University in the Tiger Invitational. Both meets take place this coming Saturday, February 5.
ENGINEER INVITATIONAL FINAL RESULTS
