West Liberty, W.Va. – With a busy weekend ahead, the West Liberty University men's and women's track & field teams are set for one final weekend of tune-ups prior to the conference meet, as they are scheduled to compete in four meets in a span of three days. The action starts on Thursday, April 18, when the teams visit Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, for the John Papa Invitational. Then on Friday, April 19, the teams will see a handful of athletes compete at the first day of the Jesse Owens Classic, hosted by Ohio State, while the remainder of the squads will be in action at the Benson/Hodge Memorial Invitational, hosted by Robert Morris. The weekend concludes on Saturday, April 20, with the final day of the Jesse Owens classic for the select few Hilltopper athletes while the remainder of the teams will compete at the Mountaineer Twilight, hosted by West Virginia.
 
MEET DETAILS

• John Papa Invitational: Slippery Rock, Pa. (Mihalik-Thomas Stadium) – Field events begin at 12 p.m. while running events begin at 1 p.m. on Thursday
• Benson/Hodge Memorial Invitational: Pittsburgh, Pa. (P3R Track & Field Complex) – Field events begin at 11 a.m. while running events begin at 1:30 p.m. on Friday
• Jesse Owens Classic: Columbus, Ohio (Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium) – Field events begin at 12 p.m. while running events begin at 4:30 p.m. on Friday; Field events begin at 10:30 a.m. while running events begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday
• Mountaineer Twilight: Morgantown, W.Va. (The Track & Field Complex at Mylan Park) – Field events begin at 11 a.m. while running events begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday

WEST LIBERTY MEN'S TRACK & FIELD STORYLINES

• With a season-best time of 1:54.35 at the Bison Outdoor Classic this past weekend, Tavian Richardson jumped to fourth on the MEC Performance List in the 800m run. Francis Toohey also competed in the meet at Bucknell and came away with a season-best time of 1:55.84 to rank eighth in conference.
• Philip White holds the third best time in the conference in the 10,000m run and is ninth in the 1,500m run as he recorded career-best times of 31:42.25 and 3:58.57 at the Charlotte 49er Classic.
• Robert Allen ranks tenth in the league in the 10,000m run as he posted a career-best time of 32:28.48 at the Charlotte 49er Classic.
• The Hilltoppers have two athletes within the top-10 of the 110m hurdles, as Mikhi Anderson holds down the top time in the conference with a winning time of 14.52 at the Tim Weaver Invitational, while Dorde Donovic is sixth with a time of 15.27 also at the Tim Weaver Invitational.
• Donovic also ranks seventh in the conference in the 400m hurdles as he posted a career-best time of 59.18 for a second place finish in WLU's home meet last month.
• The Hilltopper 4x100 relay team of Nathan Baker, Anderson, Arthur Williams, and Lorenzo Ferrera, clocked a season-best time of 42.01 for WLU in the event, as they crossed the line second at the Cherry Blossom Invitational and currently ranks third in the MEC.
• The 4x400 relay team of Williams, Toohey, Ferrera, and Richardson rank fourth in the conference currently as they recorded a WLU season-best time of 3:27.50 at the West Family Athletic Complex last month.
• The Hilltoppers hold four of the top-5 marks in the MEC in the high jump, led by Daminn Cunningham who is first in the conference with a mark of 1.95m (6' 4.75") at the Cherry Blossom Invitational. Donovic, who is second in the league, cleared a mark of 1.90 (6' 2.75") at the Tim Weaver Invitational. Tied for fourth in the league are Ethan Furbee and Anderson who both hold a mark of 1.85m (6' 0.75") with those jumps occurring at the UC Golden Eagle Invitational.
• With a top-5 finish at the Cherry Blossom Invitational, Julius Hobbs jumped up to third on the MEC Performance List as he cleared 4.05m (13' 3.5") in the pole vault.
• A pair of Hilltoppers rank within the top-10 of the conference leaders in the long jump, as Anderson and Brijaun Baylor are fourth and seventh in the league with marks of 6.66m (21' 10.25") and 6.57m (21' 6.75") respectively at the Tim Weaver Invitational.
• Quinn Ashbrooke and Baylor rank ninth and tenth in the conference in the triple jump with marks of 13.04m (42' 9.5") and 12.80m (42' 0") at the Cherry Blossom Invitational and the Tim Weaver Invitational respectively.
• Joshua Fancher holds the second best mark in the league in the shot put as he finished second at the Cherry Blossom Invitational with a throw of 15.25 (50' 0.5").
• Fancher also holds a top-5 spot on the league's performance list in the discus with a second place mark of 44.33m (145' 5") at WVU that puts him fifth in the conference. Jordyn Dickerson enters the event's top-10 with a second place and career-best mark of 43.14m (141' 6") at the Cherry Blossom Invitational.
• With a career-best mark and third place throw of 48.29m (158' 5"), John Brown holds down the league's top mark in the hammer throw. Joining him inside the top-10 is Fancher who is sixth with a career-best throw of 45.65m (149' 9") for a second place finish at the Tim Weaver Invitational.
• Huffman, Stout, and Stewart rank seventh, eighth, and ninth respectively in the conference in the decathlon as they posted career-best scores of 3,572, 3,422, and 2,914 in WLU's home meet last month.

WEST LIBERTY WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD STORYLINES

• With a trio of top-10 individual finishes and a top-3 relay finish at the Cherry Blossom Invitational this past weekend, Sierra Lanham was named the MEC Women's Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Week for the first time this season and the fourth time in her career.
• With a career-best time of 12.38 to win the 100m dash at the UC Golden Eagle Invitational, Ky'Ara Ross ranks sixth in the MEC.
• Ross ranks eighth in conference in the 200m dash after posting a career-best and winning time of 25.76 at Charleston last weekend while Lanham recorded a top-10 finish and a career-best time of 25.77 at the Cherry Blossom Invitational last weekend to rank ninth in the league.
• Morgan Lesnansky ranks within the top-10 of the league performance list in both the 10,000m run and the 5,000m run, ranking seventh and ninth respectively. She won the 10,000m run at the Bethany Invitational as she turned in a career-best time of 41:12.08, and in the 5,000m run she notched a third place finish at the UC Golden Eagle Invitational as she crossed the line with a career-best time of 18:53.65.
• Hope Gestl ranks top-10 of the conference in the 400m hurdles as she ran to a career-best time of 1:12.47 to finish fourth at the Cherry Blossom Invitational.
• Ally Hicks recorded a career-best time of 12:38.35 to win the 3,000m steeplechase at the Tim Weaver Invitational, ranking ninth in the MEC thus far this season.
• The 4x100 relay team of Ross, Abbe Stackpole, Madison Cadle, and Lanham ran to a third place finish with a season-best time of 48.03 at the Cherry Blossom Invitational, ranking second in the conference.
• The 4x400 relay team of Stackpole, Gestl, Dimit, and Reynolds ran to a fourth place finish and season-best time of 4:22.41 at the Cherry Blossom Invitational, a time which now ranks fifth in the MEC.
• With a high jump mark of 1.47m (4' 9.75") in the heptathlon at the Tim Weaver Invitational, Zayne Brakeall recorded the fifth best jump in the conference this season.
• Scott ranks tenth in the MEC in the pole vault after earning a fourth place finish in the event at the Tim Weaver Invitational with a mark of 2.31m (7' 7").
• After securing a win in the long jump at the Cherry Blossom Invitational last weekend with a mark of 5.56m (18' 3"), Sierra Lanham now holds the top mark on the MEC Performance List. Ross is third in the league with a jump of 5.51m (18' 1") that won the Tim Weaver Invitational last month. Lauren Wyatt makes it three Hilltoppers inside the top-10 of the league in the event as she recorded a jump of 4.92m (17' 9") at last weekend's meet at Ohio University, ranking ninth in the conference.
• Kennedy Martin's top-5 mark in the shot put at the Cherry Blossom Invitational is now third in the league with a distance of 11.90m (39' 0.5"). With a sixth place and career-best throw of 11.57 (37' 11.5") at Ohio last weekend, Sierra Davis ranks sixth in the MEC.
• WLU holds three of the top-4 marks in the conference in the discus, led by Davis who won the event at the Bethany Invitational with a career-best throw of 42.69m (140' 1"). She is joined by Adriana Fazzini who is second in the MEC with a career-best throw of 41.67m (136' 8") for a fourth place finish at the Cherry Blossom Invitational, and Martin is fourth with a throw of 40.11m (131' 7") at the Bethany Invitational.
• West Liberty also has three athletes who rank within the top-10 of the hammer throw in the MEC, led by Davis who is eighth after notching a career-best mark of 39.95m (131' 1") at the Stan Romanoski Open. She is joined by Fazzini who is ninth in the league after recording a career-best throw of 39.07m (128' 2") for fifth place at the UC Golden Eagle Invitational, and Norris who is tenth after a career-best mark of 38.61m (126' 8") at the Tim Weaver Invitational.
• Martin ranks sixth in the conference with a javelin throw of 29.69m (97' 5") at the Tim Weaver Invitational.
• Brakeall ranks third in the MEC in the heptathlon after breaking the school record in the event with a total of 3,741 points for a sixth place finish at the Tim Weaver Invitational.