Eastern Illinois University’s outdoor track and field team will participate in the Illinois Gary Wieneke Invite on April 30 in Champaign. The two-day event is set to begin at noon each day at Demirjian Park.
The meet follows notable performances by Eastern Illinois athletes at the 116th Drake Relays, where Maliek Bush and Machi Nelson earned Ohio Valley Conference Weekly Awards. Bush was named OVC Male Field Athlete of the Week after winning the long jump with a mark of 24 feet, 1.75 inches. He also ran the third leg for the men’s 4×100 relay team, which placed ninth and narrowly missed qualifying for finals.
Nelson received his second OVC Male Freshman of the Week honor this season after finishing seventh in the long jump and thirteenth in the high jump. Nelson enters this week ranked forty-sixth in the NCAA West Region for long jump based on an earlier performance that also places him first among Ohio Valley Conference competitors.
At last week’s Drake Relays, Ashlyn Denney finished second in the women’s 800-meter run with a time of two minutes, ten point zero five seconds—ranking ninth best in school history. The women’s 4×100 relay team posted a qualifying time of forty-five point fifty-four seconds on Friday—the second-best time ever recorded by Eastern Illinois—and improved it to forty-five point twenty-nine seconds during Saturday’s finals. Team members included Abby Venhaus, Kenyetietta Quinn, Annabelle Coudron, and Analena Peterson.
Other highlights from Drake Relays include Venhaus finishing second in women’s long jump with a distance of nineteen feet, four point seventy-five inches; Layla Bonilla placing second in women’s triple jump at thirty-nine feet, ten point seventy-five inches; and Shawn Lacy securing third place in javelin with a throw of one hundred ninety-three feet, four inches.
The upcoming invite offers another opportunity for Eastern Illinois athletes to build on their recent successes as they continue their season.
