Men's Track and Field Wins Pair of Event Titles at GVSU Big Meet

ALLENDALE, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University men's track and field team won a pair of event titles as it concluded the GVSU Big Meet Friday, Feb. 14 inside the Kelly Family Sports Center.

The Eagles were especially strong in the field events, sweeping the podium in the prestigious weight throw invite. In all, three Eagles broke the 20-meter plateau: freshman Kappa Bedoui (Doha, Qatar-Aspire Academy) won the event with a distance of 21.05 meters, redshirt senior Zach Harkey (Huron, Ohio-Huron) was right behind in second place at 21.03, and redshirt senior Taige Bryant (Edmond, Okla-Edmond Memorial) claimed third place with a distance of 20.38 meters. For his part, Harkey also ranked ninth in the shot put with a toss of 14.15 meters.

Additionally, freshman Omar Ibrahim (Cairo, Egypt-Aspire Academy) was the runner-up in the general weight throw with heave of 16.62 meters, and placed eighth overall in the shot put at 14.19 meters. Newcomer Brian Jones (Grand Blanc, Mich.-Grand Blanc) was second in the shot put at 14.87 meters, while junior Skyler Lester (Marietta, Ga.-Marietta) placed third in the high jump as he achieved a height of 2.06 meters. Junior Chukwusom Enekwechi (Valley Stream, N.Y.-Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences (Monroe College)) placed second in the shot put invite with a toss of 17.66 meters, and sixth in the weight throw invite as he recorded a heave of 19.01 meters.

Meanwhile, junior Owen Richardson (Basingstoke, England-The Costello School) won his fourth 200-meter title of the season with a time of 21.37 seconds, while freshmen Frankie Grey (Brentwood, N.Y.-Brentwood) and Dorian Hooker II (Sylvania, Ohio-Northview) also finished in the top-20 with times of 22.09 and 22.31, respectively. Richardson also won his heat of the 60-meter preliminaries with a time of 6.91 seconds, and finished fifth in the title race as he crossed the finish line in 6.88. From there, junior Owen Day (Ottawa, Ontario-International School of Dusseldorf) was sixth overall in the 800-meter race with a mark of 1:50.77.

In the distance events, sophomore harrier Baldvin Magnusson (Akureyri, Iceland-Hull University) was second in his section of the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:14.14, while redshirt freshman Chris Devaney (New Plymouth, New Zealand-New Plymouth) finished 10th in a separate section of that event at 14:38.03. Freshman Wilho Hautala (Heinola, Finland-Lahden Lyseo) recorded his highest finish as an Eagle, ranking ninth in the 3,000-meter race with a mark of 8:19.44.

Eastern now turns its attention to the Silverston Invitational at the University of Michigan Friday, Feb. 21, along with the Alex Wilson Invitational at the University of Notre Dame Saturday, Feb. 22.

EMU Individual Results

5000m Run, Section 2
10. Chris Devaney 14:38.03
27. Joe Ingram 15:42.23

5000m Run, Section 1
2. Baldvin Magnusson 14:14.14

60m Hurdles Prelims
18. Alec Frymier 8.41
30. Skyler Lester 8.63
-- Payne Wylie DNF

60m Dash Prelims
6. Owen Richardson 6.91Q
22. Sean Beckom 7.02
38. Dorian Hooker 7.14
41. Kyle Martin 7.15
51. Alex Trower 7.37

60m Dash Final
5. Owen Richardson 6.88

600m Run
25. Ken Coward 1:27.39

400m Dash
16. Frankie Grey 48.75
25. Dorian Hooker 49.18
32. Trent Barron 49.61
51. Charlie Young 50.83
54. Alec Frymier 52.06

Mile Run
27. Ronald Brandal 4:16.14

800m Run
6. Owen Day 1:50.77 D2P
15. Derek Jones 1:52.08 D2P
16. Roderic Wilson 1:52.66 D2P

200m Dash
1. Owen Richardson 21.37 D2P
12. Frankie Grey 22.09
19. Dorian Hooker 22.31
25. Kyle Martin 22.44
30. Trent Barron 22.62
39. Sean Beckom 23.01
44. Alex Trower 23.64

3000m Run
9. Wilho Hautala 8:19.44 D2P
19. Andy Payne 8:24.64
27. Toby Gualter 8:28.12
36. Solomon Costa 8:35.79

Triple Jump Invite
11. Renfei Chang 11.86m

Shot Put
2. Brian Jones 14.87m
8. Omar Ibrahim 14.19m
9. Zach Harkey 14.15m

Shot Put Invite
2. Chukwusom Enekwechi 17.66m D2P

Weight Throw
2. Omar Ibrahim 16.62m

Weight Throw Invite
1. Kappa Bedoui 21.05m
2. Zach Harkey 21.03m
3. Taige Bryant 20.38m
6. Chukwusom Enekwechi 19.01m

High Jump Invite
3. Skyler Lester 2.06m D2P

Men's Track and Field Wins Pair of Event Titles at GVSU Big Meet

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Trent Barron

Kappa Bedoui

Ronnie Brandal

Taige Bryant

Renfei Chang

Solomon Costa

Owen Day

Chris Devaney

Chukwusom Enekwechi

Alec Frymier

Frankie Grey

Toby Gualter

Zach Harkey

Wilho Hautala

Dorian Hooker II

Omar Ibrahim

Joe Ingram

Brian Jones

Derek Jones

Skyler Lester

Baldvin Magnusson

Kyle Martin

Andy Payne

Owen Richardson

Roderic Wilson

Payne Wylie

Charlie Young

Eastern Michigan Athletics