Ashland University's men's and women's hammer throwers led the Eagle effort on Day 2 of the 2015 Great Lake s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Ken Herrick Track in Hillsdale, Mich.
A pair of senior Eagles finished 2-3 in the women's hammer throw. Kim Habegger was second with a top effort of 58.55 meters/192-feet-1, while Jessica Bridenthal took third place at 55.98 meters/183-feet-8.
In the men's hammer throw, Eagles took spots 3-6. Senior Zac Ball was third with an automatic nationals-improving distance of 66.46 meters/218-feet-0, sophomore Jordan Crayon placed fourth (63.53 meters/208-feet-5), sophomore Bryn Campbell took fifth (62.46 meters/204-feet-11) and senior Mack Taylor was sixth (61.65 meters/202-feet-3, improved provisional).
Senior Jennifer Bjelac earned a provisional nationals effort in the women's long jump, placing fourth with a top jump of 5.76 meters/18-feet-10¾, and did the same in the women's heptathlon, finishing second with 4,893 points.
In the men's javelin, senior Sam Shaffer earned a second-place finish at 58.21 meters/191-feet-0.
The Eagles saw several athletes advance to Friday's (May 1) finals after qualifying in Thursday's preliminary races.
In a pair of events, three AU athletes advanced to finals. In the men's 1,500-meter run, seniors Joshua Davis (4:00.70) and Drew Windle (4:04.02) and junior Nick Hall (4:01.57) all moved on – Davis and Windle each winning their heats. In the men's 400-meter intermediate hurdles, junior Elijha Owens (53.20), senior Waquiem Comar (53.79) and sophomore William Robinson (55.56) advanced.
Two events saw a pair of Eagles go through to finals – the men's 110-meter high hurdles (Owens 14.06, Comar 14.36) and the men's 800-meter run (senior Jacob Cook 1:54.38, Windle 1:55.06). Freshman Irene Skinner qualified for finals in both the women's 400-meter dash (57.80) and 200-meter dash (25.27).
The Ashland men's 4x100-meter relay team had the fastest preliminary time at 41.54. Junior Eric Thompkins will compete in the men's 100-meter dash finals (10.80), and junior Brandon Freeman will do the same in the men's 200-meter dash finals (22.32).
After seven scored events, the AU women are second (40.5 points) to Grand Valley State (83), and the Eagle men are third (36) behind GVSU (47) and Hillsdale (37).
Friday is the third and final day of the championships, with field events beginning at 11 a.m. and running events commencing at 12:10 p.m.
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