Dec. 9, 2007

NORMAL, Ill. - The Lewis University track and field team opened its indoor season with a strong showing at the Redbird Open, held Saturday at Illinois State's Horton Field House. The Flyers won two events, one with a school record, and added 14 more top five finishes.

"I thought we looked pretty good," Lewis head coach Dana Schwarting said. "I was really happy with our performance. I think we looked better this year than we did at this time last year."

Sophomore Scott Barnas supplied Lewis' first event win of the day by breaking a 17-year old Lewis record with a throw of 51-11.25 in the shot put. The first-place toss missed the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark by just two meters.

The Flyer men received second-place finishes from sophomore James Knaperek and freshman Matt Schultz. Knaperek earned second in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.54. He ran an 8.59 to take first in his preliminary heat. Schultz tied for second in the pole vault with a mark of 13-11.25.

Other top-five finishes for the Lewis men came from junior Pat Reaney and sophomores Randy Hinton and Austin Bailey.

Reaney was fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.91, and he added a sixth-place effort in the long jump by leaping 21-01.50. Hinton took fifth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:08.47, and sophomore Austin Bailey was fifth in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.24. Bailey also added a seventh in the 200-meter dash by clocking a 23.36.

Other competitors for the Flyer men were senior Chance Eiker, junior Ben Holliman, sophomore Donnie Lesnick and freshmen Chris Liebrand and Adam Zaremba.

Liebrand (51.39), Zaremba (52.10) and Eiker (53.97) took sixth, 10th and 13th, respectively, in the 400-meter dash. Lesnick (23.94), Holliman (24.99) and Gorman (25.03) ran 15th, 25th and 26th in the 200-meter dash. Gorman also finished tied for sixth in the high jump with a leap of 6-02.00.

The men's 4x400-meter relay team took second with a time of 3:26.71.

Sophomore Ashley Butler provided a first-place finish for the women by leaping 17-02.25 in the long jump. She also competed in the 60- and 200-meter dashes. Her 7.98 in the 60 was third in her preliminary heat, and she took eighth in the 200 with a time of 27.30.

Senior Katie Barney finished right behind Butler in the long jump with a leap of 16-11.50. Junior Millennium Wheeler and freshman Samantha Linck rounded out Lewis' long jump competitors. Wheeler jumped 16-00.25 to take 10th place, and Linck went 14-03.25 for 15th place. Linck later added an eighth-place finish in the high jump (5-00.25).

The Flyer women also found success in the triple jump. Sophomore Christine Kustra was second with a jump of 36-08.25; Wheeler was third with a jump of 35-08.50; freshman Kelsey Boland took sixth with a leap of 32-00.75.

Other top performances for the Lewis women came from freshmen Pierra Sobodas, Kellsi Howell, sophomore Michelle Ruff and junior Amanda Lewis. Sobodas took third in the mile with a time of 5:21.90. Howell was third in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:25.27. Ruff finished fifth in the 200-meter dash with a 26.35. Lewis ran to fifth in the 400 with a 1:02.60.

Senior Sarah King and freshman Maggie Boban each turned in a seventh-place finish. King's was in the 200 (27.24) and Boban's was in the 400 (1:03.30).

Other Lewis runners in the 800-meter race were senior Kelle Lederman in sixth (2:30.55), freshman Lisa Ommundson in 10th (2:43.57), freshman Jasmine Crenshaw in 11th (2:51.42) and freshman Lizzie Tamulawicz in 12th (2:52.55).

Junior Rachel Quintana led the throwers with a sixth-place effort in the 20-pound throw (49-01.75) and seventh-place showing in the shot put (39-01.75). Freshmen Lauren Hajduk (31-06.00) and Mackenzie Liss (28-06.50) were 17th and 18th in the 20-pound weight throw.

The women's 4x400-meter relay team took third with a time of 4:06.28. The "B" team was sixth with a 4:18.93.

The Flyers return to action on Jan. 19 at Eastern Illinois' Mega Meet.