Track and Field Posts Eight Event Wins at Big Blue Invite

Titans collect 24 top-three finishes

4/3/2021 7:29:00 PM

Final Results (PDF)

DECATUR, Ill. - The Illinois Wesleyan University track and field teams collected 24 top-three finishes, highlighted by eight event wins, at the Big Blue Alumni Invite in Decatur, Ill. Saturday, April 3.

On the women's side, sophomore Addison Bendery (Chicago, Ill.-Loyola Academy) and senior Ayana Blair (Wheeling, Ill.-Wheeling) notched two wins apiece. Bendery claimed the 100m and 200m titles with times of 12.21 and 25.67, respectively. Blair added wins in shot put (12.36m) and discus (42.25m), while she also recorded a second-place finish in hammer throw with a distance of 47.75m.

Senior Cora Wilkinson (Verona, Ill.-Seneca Township) grabbed a win in the 400m hurdles, crossing the finish line in 1:05.43. Wilkinson's win in the 400m hurdles was tight, as she claimed the win by two tenths of a second, while senior Kelsey Wyman (Monmouth, Ill.-Monmouth-Roseville) finished four tenths behind her in third. She also secured third in long jump with a distance of 5.20m.

Rebekah Harden (Tinley Park, Ill.-Lincoln-Way North) picked up a second-place finish in the 800m run, and freshman Lauren Wong (Morton, Ill.-Morton) was runner-up in triple jump (10.94).

Freshman Peyton Pollman (Mapleton, Ill.-Illini Bluffs) and Lexie Dorsey (Mahomet, Ill.-Mahomet-Seymour) recorded third-place finishes in the 400m dash and 5000m run, respectively. Additionally, junior Jorri Sandage (Leroy, Ill.-Leroy) placed third in the 200m dash.

Wyman, freshman Avery Smith (Naperville, Ill.-Naperville North), junior Emma Helferich (Monticello, Ill.-Monticello) and Bendery also teamed up for a second-place finish in the 4x100m relay with a time of 48.87.

Sophomore Cyrus Clarke (Bronx, N.Y.-Bronx Theatre), senior Jake Mahaffey (Plainfield, Ill.-Providence Catholic), and junior Cole Paraday (Frankfort, Ill.-Lincoln-Way East) picked up wins on the men's side. Clarke won the 400m dash with a time of 50.64, while Mahaffey's triple jump of 13.44m was good for a first-place finish. Mahaffey also finished third in high jump, where he cleared 1.82m. Paraday's win came in javelin with a distance of 48.63m. He added a third-place finish in discus (39.79m).

Sophomore Samuel Painter (Litchfield, Ill.-Litchfield) registered second-place finishes in the 200m dash (22.41) and long jump (6.63m). Senior Zach Anderson (Algonquin, Ill.-Westminster Christian) took second in shot put (16.21m) and third in hammer (50.08m), while Keondre Schumacher (Bloomington, Ill.-U High) finished second in the 100m dash (11.13). Sophomore J.D. Barrett (Tuscola, Ill.-Tuscola) earned third in the 5000m run with a time of 16:18.34.

Illinois Wesleyan returns to competition next weekend, April 10, at Eastern Illinois' Big Blue meet at O'Brien Field.

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