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Results (PDF)  |  Photo Gallery (by Sandy King)

CHARLESTON, ILL -- Eastern Illinois outdoor track showed out in the EIU Big Blue Classic at O'Brien Field as multiple track and field athletes took first place in their respective events.

The day began with the hammer throw, where EIU's sophomores reigned supreme. On the women's side, three Panthers took the top three spots in the final results.  Jenna Grzeskowiak finished in first place out of eight competitors with a distance of 159'11", Clayre Shaver finished second with a distance of 149'7", while Taylor Iverson finished third with a length of 142'.  For the men, Bradley Olysav finished first with a distance of 184'10", while Bo Braunecker came in second at 175'. 

In the men's long jump, Ramsey Hunt finished first and set a new career high with a mark of 24'11.5" (7.60m).  In the women's triple jump, Taryn Tarquin finished first with a mark of 34'11.25".

For the track portion of the event, EIU finished first in the women's 4 x 100m relay, as the quartet of Vivica Coleman, Danielle Frank, Zakiya Johnson, and Akiya Kollore finished with a time of 46.63.  On the men's side of the relay, the Panthers saw both of their quartet's take the top two spots.  Quartet A, which consisted of Hopkins and three sophomores in Jahleel Perrin, Brailyn Johnson, and Ricky Johnson, finished in first place with a time of 41.39.  Quartet B, which consisted of Colin Marchio, Jason Miller, Damian Clay, and Tadiwa Mhonde, finished in second place with a mark of 42.40.

In the men's 1500m, senior Josh Whitaker finished first with a time of 3:55.32.  In the women's 100m hurdles, Kollore finished in first with a time of 14.21.  In the men's 110m hurdles.  In the women's 100m run, Coleman finished first with a time of 12.26. 

The Panthers occupied all three of the top spots in the women's 400m hurdles, as Shanisa Stinson came in first with a time of 1:06.24, Mckenna Wojcicki came in second at 1:06.40, and Hallee Thomas came in third with a time of 1:08.45.  Riley Baker came in first in on the men's side with a time of 53.78. 

Katie Springer came in first in the women's 800m with a time of 2:19.71.  Franky Romano finished first in the men's 800m with a time of 1:55.24.  Lindsey Carlson finished second in the women's 5000m and set a new school record with a time of 16:34.50.

Up next, the Panthers will hit the road again as they travel to Terre Haute, Ind. for the Indiana State Gibson Invite on April 8 & April 9.