Green and White Stands Out at Virginia Challenge

Complete Results

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (EMUEagles.com)—At the conclusion of the first day of the Virginia Challenge and Combined Events, April 17, Eastern Michigan University's men's track and field team has continued to put up impressive marks to close out the first half of the outdoor campaign.

Friday marked the first day of the decathlon, in which Solomon Ijah (Murrieta, Calif.-Murrieta Valley) currently leads all athletes with 3,996 points while Levi Selvig (Flushing, Mich.-Flushing Community) sits in 11^th with 3,418 points. Ijah holds a 170-point lead over Kennesaw State's Joshua Mulder, and is on pace to break his personal record in the event after the first five events. Ijah set career bests in three of his five events for the day, winning both the 100m dash and the shot put with marks of 10.84 seconds and 14.97 meters/49 feet 1.50-inches, respectively, while Selvig took 10^th in the 100m in 11.51 seconds and 15^th in the shot put with a throw of 11.21 meters/36 feet 9.50-inches. Ijah also had a career mark in the 400m dash, taking third in 49.22 seconds while Selvig clocked a 50.81 to take eighth. In the remaining two events, Ijah tied for seventh in both the long jump and the high jump, leaping 6.75 meters/22 feet 1.75-inches in the long jump before clearing 1.89 meters/6 feet 2.50-inches in the high jump. Selvig notched a distance of 6.53 meters/21 feet 5.25-inches in the long jump to place 11^th, and his height of 1.80 meters/5 feet 10.75-inches in the high jump was good for 15^th. Both athletes will complete their 10-event slate tomorrow beginning with the 110m hurdles at 10 a.m.

The Eagles brought in two victories, splitting between the track and the field on the opening day of action. On the track, the lineup of Kevin Snead (Richmond, Va.-George Wythe (Pima CC)), Cameron Bolton (Missouri City, Texas-Hightower), Brandon Bolden (Solon, Ohio-Solon), and Jeff Elam (Latrobe, Pa.-Greater Latrobe Senior) handily won the 4x100m relay in 40.24 seconds, a mark that stands as the fifth-fastest in EMU history.

The other win for the Eagles was thanks to Donald Scott (Apopka, Fla.-Apopka), who has been a formidable opponent in the triple jump this season. The reigning Mid-American Conference Field Athlete of the week broke his own EMU record in the triple jump once more, winning in a tight battle with South Florida's Matthew O'Neal by a margin of three and a half inches after bounding 16.42 meters/53 feet 10.50-inches.

Two more performances were held on the field, with Keith Williams (Sherman, Ill.-Williamsville) leading the way for the Green and White in the hammer throw with a runner-up finish after throwing 61.14 meters/200 feet 7-inches while Andrew Wentz (Napoleon, Ohio-Napoleon) threw 48.80 meters/160 feet 1-inch. In the discus throw, Travis Harris (Walled Lake, Mich.-Walled Lake Central) paced the Eagles with a mark of 45.29 meters/148 feet 7-inches, good for 23^rd, while Quinn Levering (Caledonia, Ohio-River Valley) placed 25^th at 43.73 meters/143 feet 5-inches.

Back on the track, the Eagles had three seventh-place finishes to highlight the day. In the 100m dash, Snead placed seventh in 10.65 seconds, followed by Bolden and Bolton in 10.81 and 10.83 seconds for 15^th and 16^th, respectively.

Tyler Brown (Findlay, Ohio-Findlay) opened up the outdoor campaign in his primary event, taking seventh in the 400m in 46.81 seconds, and the trio of Jason Ervin (Farmington Hills, Mich.-Farmington), Matthew Williams (Moreno Valley, Calif.-Vista del Lago), and Mason Waynes (Kenosha, Wis.-Bradford) all finished within half a second of each other. Ervin and Williams both finished in the top-20, as Ervin's time of 48.23 seconds was good for 16^th and Williams clocked a 48.43 for 19^th, while Waynes crossed the line in 48.69 seconds for 21^st.

The final top-10 finish of the day came from Scott Bradley (Battle Creek, Mich.-Lakeview) in the 800m run. The junior set a personal record of 1:50.06 to take seventh, and was followed by another career best from Stephen Sparks (Lancaster, Ohio-Lancaster) in 1:53.71 to take 30^th.

Just missing out on a top-10 finish was Willy Fink (Maumee, Ohio-Maumee), who ran in a star-studded field in the 3000m steeplechase. The event was led by Eastern Kentucky's Ole Hesselbjerg and Michigan's Mason Ferlic, who finished third and fourth at the 2014 NCAA Division I Championships, and the field featured two other harriers in the top-10 who performed on the national stage last year. Fink set a personal record of 8:55.36 to finish 11^th overall, and Steve Hammond (Warsaw, Ohio-River View (Wingate)) continued to shave time in the event this season after finishing in 9:19.92 for 23^rd.

The Eagles will resume competition tomorrow, April 18 at Lannigan Field. The 5000m will kick action off on the track at 9:15 a.m., while field events are slated to begin at 1 p.m. with the high jump and long jump. Live results are provided through flashresults.com.

EMU Individual Results (* signifies a personal best; ^ is a MAC qualifying mark; # represents an EMU record)

	Mark	Points
Decathlon 100m
1. Ijah, Solomon	10.84*	897
10. Selvig, Levi	11.51	750

Decathlon Long Jump
7. Ijah, Solomon	6.75m/22-01.75	755
11. Selvig, Levi	6.53m/21-05.25	704

Decathlon Shot Put
1. Ijah, Solomon	14.97m/49-01.50*	788
15. Selvig, Levi	11.21m/36-09.50	559

Decathlon High Jump
7. Ijah, Solomon	1.89m/6-02.50	705
15. Selvig, Levi	1.80m/5-10.75	627

Deathlon 400m
3. Ijah, Solomon	49.22*	851
8. Selvig, Levi	50.81	778

100m Dash
7. Snead, Kevin	10.65^
15. Bolden, Brandon	10.81
16. Bolton, Cameron	10.83

400m Dash
7. Brown, Tyler	46.81^
16. Ervin, Jason	48.23
19. Williams, Matthew	48.43
21. Waynes, Mason	48.69

800m Run
7. Bradley, Scott	1:50.06*^
30. Sparks, Stephen	1:53.71*

3000m Steeplechase
11. Fink, Willy	8:55.36*^
23. Hammond, Steve	9:19.92*

4x100m Relay
1. Snead, Bolton, Bolden, Elam	40.24

Triple Jump
1. Scott, Donald	16.42m/53-10.50*#^

Discus Throw
23. Harris, Travis	45.29m/148-07
25. Levering, Quinn	43.73m/143-05

Hammer Throw
2. Williams, Keith	61.14m/200-07^
20. Wentz, Andrew	48.80m/160-01

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Brandon Bolden

Cameron Bolton

Scott Bradley

Tyler Brown

Jeff Elam

Jason Ervin

Willy Fink

Steve Hammond

Travis Harris

Quinn Levering

Donald Scott

Levi Selvig

Solomon Simmons

Kevin Snead

Stephen Sparks

Mason Waynes

Andrew Wentz

Keith Williams

Matthew Williams

Eastern Michigan Athletics