Isenbarger Breaks School Record at Pepsi Florida Relays

Thursday, March 28

Gainesville, Fla.

Western Kentucky University

Pepsi Florida Relays

3/30/2019 8:44:00 PM | Track & Field

Full Results

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Led by seven top-10 performances and a record-breaking high jump from freshman Katie Isenbarger, WKU Track & Field had a solid showing at the Pepsi Florida Relays over the past three days. The Red and White had 22 competitors across 15 events at the James G. Pressly Stadium and Percy Beard Track.

Isenbarger finished with the highest place for WKU, breaking the female outdoor high jump school record and tying for second in the women's high jump invite event. The Indiana-native jumped 1.76 meters (5' 9 1/4"), finished five one-hundredths of a meter out of first and tied with reigning Conference USA Outdoor High Jump Champion Clarissa Cutliff of FIU. The previous WKU record was held by Kelley Barbour when she recorded a height of 5' 9" in 1979.

The men's relay teams finished off the Florida Relays with strong performances on Saturday afternoon. The 4x400-meter relay squad ran the second-best outdoor time in program history with a 3:03.78 mark. Finishing just behind Iowa and Florida, the Hilltoppers missed first place by just .68 seconds. The outdoor school record of 3:03.02 was set in 2014.

WKU competed in the 4x100-meter relay, placing 13th after running a 39.77. The Hilltoppers also ran in two uncommon outdoor relays, the 4x200-meter and 1600 sprint medley relay. The Red and White finished 11th with a time of 1:24.62 in the 4x200-meter and eighth with a time of 3:28.32 in the 1600 sprint medley.

Hilltopper sprinters continued to see success in Florida with high finishes in the men's open 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. Kymari Gates placed ninth in the 200-meter sprint with a time of 20.76, a season best for the Hilltoppers. Oliver Alexandre ran a 46.36 in the 400-meter and finished seventh.

Along with Isenbarger in the high jump, two other Lady Toppers recorded strong performances in their jumping events. Myesha Nott placed eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 12.80 meters, WKU's best mark in the event since 2014. Nott also placed 14th in the open long jump with a 5.52-meter jump. Annastacia Forrester competed in the women's long jump invite and earned eighth with a jump of 5.95 meters.

"Florida Relays is one of the best outdoor track meets in the country," said head coach Erik Jenkins of the event. "We look forward to this early season competitive measurement every year. We had some solid performances and are excited about the remainder of the season."

WKU is set to host the Hilltopper Relays this Friday and Saturday, April 5-6, with Senior Day and the Fastest Kid in Bowling Green competition scheduled for Saturday afternoon at the Charles M. Ruter Track and Field Complex.