Wheeling, W. Va. – As the calendar turns from March to April, the Wheeling University Outdoor Track & Field team is beginning the final stretch towards the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championships. They begin the run on Good Friday, when they travel to the Cherry Blossom Invitational, hosted by Ohio University, with first events beginning at 11 AM. The Cardinals look to continue growing their young talent as they look to improve upon their PRs from the early season.
Last time out, the Cardinals competed at theTim Weaver Invitational, where they got their first look at several of their conference competition. Day one would begin with the throwers as the weight throw, javelin, and multis kicked off the day. Wheeling would send their top freshmen to the competition field and picked up their first individual event championship of the event. The multis would compete in their first three events and Wheeling picked up two 2nd place finishes. As the event moved to day two, the Cardinals sent the rest of their athletes to the competition field, in a day that included several top five finishes. Leading the way was the Cardinal's final individual champion of the event as they finished off another strong showing against several of their conference competitors.
On the women's side, the Cardinals were led by Madison Conrad, who competed in both the 1500 and 5000 meter runs. Conrad started things strong, competing in the elite group of the 1500 and finished third in the field with a time of 5:08.27. It was the first of two PRs for the junior, as she came back strong on day two in the 5000. She would earn her first individual event championship of the outdoor season, running a time of 18:55.50, to beat the rest of the field by 24 seconds. The other top performer was Fenne Sienaert in the multi event, who finished second overall with 3829 points. Her top performance would come in the Javelin, where she picked up the individual championship with a distance of 34.36 Meters. She would pick up several second place finishes to round out the event as she competed as a multi for the first time this outdoor season.
On the Men's side, the gold would come from Felix Manyani, who competed in the Javelin for the second time in his career. While he would fall short of the NCAA Provo mark, he was able to go over the 50 meter mark for the second straight event. He would throw a distance of 54.98 meters, hitting the mark on his third throw of the day. It was the second straight event that Manyani would take home the gold in as he continues to lead the MEC in the event. On day two, it would be the field events leading the way, with Jacob Legg and Alexander Rodriguez leading the way. Each would finish fourth in their respective events, with Rodriguez vaulting to a height of 3.20 meters , while Legg would clear a height of 1.80 meters in the High Jump to round out the day.
The Cherry Blossom Invitational will be the second NCAA DI hosted meet that the team will travel to this season. They started the season at the Marty Pushkin Invitational, where they had two individual event champions, while setting several PR's Head Coach Ben Healy is excited to once again compete on the DI stage, giving his athletes a chance to see some of the top talent in the country in their respective events. As they enter Friday's event, the Cardinals have two athletes leading the MEC in their respective events, with Rodriguez leading the pole vault at 4.25 meters, while Manyani leads the Javelin at 59.71 meters. With three events left in the regular season run, the Cardinals are looking to get more athletes atop the conference list and set them up for a strong showing at conference.
Expected Competitors
Abeneezer Yirdaw (100), Taven Mayo (100/PV), Roy Pa Jr. (100), Erik Berroa (200), Jacob Legg (200/HJ), Magnus Polkner (800), Kris Vigars (400 H), Alexander Rodriguez (PV), Marcelin Tote (LJ), Rebekah Merinar (100), Jade Trowell (400/800), Kaitlyn Osorio (800/1500), Gabby Baiano (1500/5000), Jezabelle Cohen (1500), Madison Conrad (5000), Luci Banks (3000 Steeple), Autumn King (HJ/SP/DT), Autumn King (HJ), Nyja Short (LJ), JaLynn Shapley (SP/DT), Amber Yoho (DT)
The Details
The Cherry Blossom Invitational is scheduled for Friday, April 3rd, with field events beginning at 11 AM. You can follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
