　　Allendale, Mich. - The Western Kentucky University track and field teams are on a three-way split this weekend with athletes competing in the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., GVSU Big Meet in Allendale, Mich., and MTSU Valentine Invitational in Murfreesboro, Tenn. On Friday, competition began at Washington and Grand Valley, with the WKU distance corps taking the spotlight.
　　In Seattle, four-time all-American Janet Jesang ran an NCAA automatic time of 16:04.48 in section three of the invite 5,000 meters to finish eighth. She has now hit automatic qualifiers in the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, while also running a provisional time in the mile. Marion Kandie narrowly missed the provisional-qualifying time with a seventh-place finish in section two on the invite 5,000 meters, clocking 16:47.34 to move to third all-time in the Lady Topper record books. For the men, Patrick Cheptoek clocked a 5,000-meter time of 14:23.01 to finish ninth in the section two invite.
　　At Grand Valley, Deus Rwaheru led WKU with a winning time of 14:15.42 in the 5,000 meters, missing the NCAA provisional mark by five seconds and moving to fifth all-time among Hilltopper distance runners at that distance. In the 800 meters, Vasity Chemweno improved her time as the fourth-fastest half-miler in Lady Topper history, clocking 2:15.15.
　　For the second-straight week, Adesola Adeduro set a new Lady Topper record in the weight throw, finishing ninth in the invitational section with a toss of 59-3. In the men's weight, Brian Soverns placed ninth with a throw of 58-10.25. Sharika Smith took third place in the long jump with a leap of 18-10.75, while also taking fifth in her first triple jump competition of the season, posting a mark of 38-1. Also in the long jump, Samantha Smith posted a sixth-place jump of 18-3.25. For the men, Junior Cadet finished third in the triple jump with a leap of 45-7.
　　In the sprints, Ennis Jones and Tory Womack tied for third in the 200-meter dash, each clcoking 21.68 seconds. Also finishing in the top-10 for the men was Terrill McCombs, who took eighth-place at 21.82. For the Lady Toppers, Kellie Morrison placed eighth with a time of 24.84 in the 200-meter dash.
　　Competition will continue at UW and GVSU Saturday morning, while athletes will also take part in the one-day meet at MTSU.
- WKU -
