Youngstown, Ohio – The UIC track and field teams found it to be tough sledding in the final indoor competition of the season this weekend at the Horizon League Championships hosted by Youngstown State University. The men's team placed fifth and the women finished eighth.
One bright spot for the Flames was
Shaun Wollenweber being named as the Co-Field Athlete of the Meet. The junior from Plano (Ill.) won the triple jump with a leap of 15.22 meters and claimed a fifth place finish in the long jump (6.80). Freshman
Larnell Brown captured third place in the triple jump (14.61m), narrowly missing second place by one centimeter. On the women's side, Ariel Gibbs grabbed fifth place with a jump of 5.50 meters.
"Obviously it is not the place we were hoping for this weekend," said
Gabe Rivera, head coach. "We were able to find a few bright spots and discover some areas that we believe we can cover better for the outdoor championships in May."
The Flames fared well on the track as freshman Ashley Miller competed in the women's pentathlon. Sitting in seventh place leading up to the 800 meters, she ran a very determined race and was able to pull out a fifth place finish. In the men's heptathlon
Michael Crepeau took fourth place with 4,685 points.
The men's distance medley relay team of
Alex Bashqawi,
Tom Brennan, Mike Meskill and
Kyle Hauser took second place with a time of 10:08.01. In the mile, Hauser (4:11.58) and Bashqawi (4:11.79) finished in sixth and seventh place respectively. The 3000 meters saw
Brixton Rill surprise himself and the coaching staff by running a personal best of 8:33.87 and securing a sixth place finish. The 4 x 400m relay team (
Jordan Munar, Jakob Mogorovic, Mike Meskill and
Maciej Markiewicz) placed fourth with a mark of 3:21.96.
In the women's 5000 meters, sophomore Allison Hansen finished sixth and set a personal record with a time of 17:47.53 while the 4 x 400 meter relay squad of Basirat Iginla, Paige Crawford, Sarah Poulos, and Mia Cruz-Bastian posted a season best time of 3:55.90.
