March 18, 2002
Athens, Ga. - The Western Kentucky track and field teams kicked off the 2002 outdoor season this past weekend (March 15-16) at the Georgia Relays.
No team scoring was kept, but several Western athletes competed well.
On the men's side, freshman thrower Raigo Toompuu (Haapsalu, Estonia) was the top collegiate finisher -- second overall -- in the shot put by setting a career best mark of 55-2.25. Toompuu also competed well in the discus, where he finished second with a toss of 154-9. Eigo Siimu (Fr., Viljandi, Estonia) finished third overall in javelin with a throw of 192-0 and fifth in long jump with a leap of 21-6.25. Chris Young (So., Scottsville, Ky.) finished the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 9:45.82, good enough for third place. Matt Moore (So., Madisonville, Ky.) had a long jump of 21-9, good enough for fourth place. Matt McClure (So., Louisville, Ky.) finished fourth in the 400-meter low hurdles with a time of 55.47. Several Hilltopper relay teams did well over the weekend, including the 4x400 (third, 3:17.60), 4x800 (third, 8:14.78), 800 sprint medley (second, 1:30.72) and the distance medley (second, 10:33.71).
For the women, the top finishes were turned in by relay teams. The 4x800-meter relay team finished third with a time of 9:39.93, less than four hundredths of a second behind second-place finisher Furman. The distance medley relay team turned in a third place finish with a time of 12:27.04.
Several WKU alumni competed well over the weekend. The Western Kentucky Alumni team of Erik Jenkins, Peter Kimaru, Robert Pritchett and Jef Scott won the distance medley relay by nearly ten seconds with a time of 10:24.75. Jenkins also did well in the long jump, where he finished second with a leap of 23-3.50. Assistant coach Michelle Murphy Scott finished second in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:38.73.
The Western Kentucky track and field teams will hit the road again this week to compete in the Alabama Relays in Tuscaloosa.
-WKU-
