May 10, 2003
Denton, Texas - After day two of the Sun Belt Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Western Kentucky University men are leading the field. The Hilltoppers have accumulated 78 points in the first two days, followed by North Texas (40), Louisiana-Lafayette (36), Middle Tennessee (26), South Alabama (15), New Orleans (15), Arkansas State (13), Florida International (6), and Arkansas-Little Rock (5).
Leading the Hilltoppers on day two was thrower Raigo Toompuu (So., Haapsalu, Estonia), who won both the shot put and the discus with seasonal bests of 54-1 and 170-9, respectively. Toompuu bettered his NCAA Mideast Regional qualifying discus throw by over two feet, and also qualified in the shot. Teammate Kristo Galeta (Fr., Viljandi, Estonia) also garnered all-conference honors with a third-place finish in the shot put with a personal best throw of 52-5.50. Also placing in the shot was Ryan Thomas (Jr., Orchard Park, N.Y.), who was sixth with a personal best toss of 46-4.25. Craig Morehead (So., Connersville, Ind.) had a personal best throw of 162-10 in the discus to finish fourth, while Galeta placed sixth (154-8), Thomas in seventh (150-11), and Jamaal Brown (Fr., Spartanburg, S.C.) in eighth (146-3).
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Daniel Roberts (So., Monticello, Ky.) was fourth in 9:42.45, and Ryan Howell (So., Kirkwood, Mo.) finished eighth in 9:52.44. In the decathlon, Matt Moore (Jr., Madisonville, Ky.) finished sixth in the two-day event, scoring 6467 points, a personal best by over 300 points. Rounding out the scoring for the Hilltoppers on day two was Jonathon Brown (Jr., Morganfield, Ky.), who placed fifth in the long jump with a leap of 24-2.25.
In Saturday's preliminaries, Brown had the second-fastest times in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Brad Eickhoff (So., Evansville, Ind.) is seeded eighth in the 100 meters going into the finals, while Wensher Maurice (So., Kissimmee, Fla.) is seeded seventh in the 800. The finals for the 100, 200, 400, 800, 110 hurdles, and 400 hurdles will be ran during Sunday's evening session.
The Lady Toppers are in second-place with 48 points heading into the final day of competition. Leading the meet is North Texas with 62.66 points, while Florida International is in third (32), followed by Louisiana-Lafayette (31.50), New Mexico State (29.83), Middle Tennessee (25), Arkansas State (22), South Alabama (11), and New Orleans (10).
Olga Cronin (Sr., Cork, Ireland) won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 11:08.43. Also garnering all-league honors in the race was Cara Nichols (So., Bowling Green, Ky.), finishing third in 11:24.13, while Emily Leeper (So., Bowling Green, Ky.) placed fourth in 12:00.35. Shanea Wilson (Fr., Paducah, Ky.) placed eighth in the long jump with a leap of 18-10, two inches short of qualifying for the Mideast Regional. Erin Gruenke (Jr., Vine Grove, Ky.) finished third and garnering all-conference honors in the discus, qualifying for regionals with a toss of 152-11. Also placing in the discus was Misty Hair (Jr., Liberty, Ky.), who had a personal best throw of 140-8 to place eighth.
In the preliminaries of the 800 meters, Nichols ran a time of 2:13.22 and Cheyenne Carmack (So., Brodhead, Ky.) crossed the finish line in a personal best time of 2:14.36 to be seeded second and fourth, respectively, in Sunday's finals.
The final day of competition begins Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m (CDT) with the men's hammer. The evening session begins at 6:00 p.m., with the final event scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m.
- WKU -
