McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's and women's track and field teams participated in the Meet of Champions, hosted by Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. The event took place on Saturday, April 20, 2024, where both IWU programs secured a 10th place finish among 24 teams. The women's team scored 45 points while the men's team accumulated 44.5 points. Washington University in St. Louis claimed victory for both men’s and women’s categories with scores of 196.5 and 127 points respectively.

In individual performances, junior Lauren Wong from Morton won the women's triple jump with a distance of 11.56 meters (37'11.25"). She also placed eighth in the long jump at 4.91 meters (16'1.50"). Junior Carlyssa King from Decatur achieved a personal best in the women's hammer throw with a toss of 52.33 meters (171'3"), earning her second place at the meet and placing her second in program history.

Junior Evelyn Wilson from Geneseo cleared 1.57 meters (5'1.75") to finish fifth in the high jump competition. Other notable finishes included freshman Lauryn Moore's eighth-place shot put throw of 10.86 meters (35'7.75"), sophomore Brooke Nazos's eighth-place finish in the steeplechase clocking at 12:22.44, junior Jordynn Griffin’s time of 1:02.09 securing eighth place in the 400-meter dash, and freshman Madyson Synstad finishing eighth in the hurdles with a time of 16.22 seconds.

On the men's side, freshman Matt Lindberg from Springfield won the high jump via tiebreaker after clearing a height of 1.94 meters (6'4.25"). Sophomore Isaac Whitaker earned second place in pole vaulting with a personal-best effort of 4.73 meters (15'6.25").

Other top performers included junior Ernie Waterson who finished fifth in an intense field during the men's 800-meter run with a time of 1:55:00, while Matthew Wagner took sixth place in shot put throwing at a distance of 13:80 meters.

Illinois Wesleyan University is set to host its only outdoor meet this season on Friday, April 26 at Tucci Stadium.