LOUISVILLE TWILIGHT
CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois track and field athletes will head to the Louisville Cardinal Twilight this Friday evening as they participate in the final regular-season meet of the season looking to either improve their current NCAA Regional ranking or attempt to move into the Top 48 for the NCAA West Regional in Austin, Texas on May 28-29.
Currently Eastern Illinois has eleven individuals and two relay teams that are ranked in the Top 48 in their events for the West Region. In a new format adopted by the NCAA this year only the Top 48 athletes plus ties are invited to compete in one of the two NCAA Regions. From those two regional sites the top 12 will advance to compete in the NCAA National Outdoor Championships.
Heading into the Louisville Cardinal Twilight three EIU athletes are ranked in the top 12 in their respective events. Megan Gingerich holds the highest ranking at 9th in the 800m. Kandace Arnold is next on the list at 11th in the shot put while Ian Winston is 12th in the high jump. Arnold is currently the only two-event qualifier as an individual ranking 22nd in the discus.
Most of the EIU men's top 48 athletes are from the sprints and middle distance categories. Zye Boey, a participant in the NCAA Outdoor Championships last year, is currently 31st in the 100m dash as he has recovered from a knee injury that forced him to miss the entire indoor season.
Joining Boey are Jacob Mitchell in 38th in the 100m, Darren Patterson is 31st in the 400m and Marcus Williams is 53rd in the 400m. That group of four sprinters along with Brandon Jelks comprise the five athletes who have run the 4x100 this season that sits in 24th place in the region.
In the men's 800m Jason Springer and Sean Wiggan are both represented in the top 48. Springer moved up to 31st in the region following a win last week at the IU Billy Hayes Invite. Wiggan is ranked 46th. Wiggan also runs one leg of the 4x400 relay that is ranked 40th.
In men's field events Tyler Arnholt enters the weekend 43rd in the discus while Sean Hopkins is 46th in the decathlon. Jaimee Roy is the lone field event qualifier for the women sitting at 40th in the long jump.
Chad Aubin and Queenie Adeboyejo sit just outside the top 48 entering the weekend. Aubin ranks 53rd in the 400m hurdles while Adeboyejo is 57th in the triple jump.
