Tops Celebrate Senior Day, Claim Five Titles at Home Hilltopper Relays

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – WKU Track & Field celebrated Senior Day on Saturday as it completed its annual Hilltopper Relays. The squad earned 25 top-five finishes, including five event titles.

Pole vaulter Devon Montgomery tied for the second-best outdoor height in program history after clearing 15-7 on the day and winning the men’s pole vault. It’s a personal best and the highest any Hilltopper has cleared since 1976.

Picking up two wins on the distance side was Dedrick Troxell. He won the 800 and 5k while Clint Sherman finished second in both events as well. Freshman Keegan Barnette also placed third in the 5k to round out a WKU podium finish.

Fifth-year senior Savannah Heckman picked up a first-place finish in the women’s 1500 with a personal best of 4:33.32. Sophomore Lucy Rutherford also shattered her previous best and made a new mark of 4:39.11 while finishing fourth.

Over in throws, Ajla Basic won the women’s hammer throw, leading all seven Hilltoppers to compete in the event. Both her and Aitana Safont Falomir, who finished third, logged PRs in the throw.

Unattached from the Hilltoppers, Kaison Barton won the men’s shot put on Friday afternoon with a personal best throw of 17.02m, narrowly besting his second-place C-USA throw from 2021.

WKU went on to honor nine seniors on Saturday afternoon. The class included Jacob Luebbehsen, Maddy Hurt, Joel Dittoe, Mary Claire Redden, Nikki Ogorek, Savannah Heckman, Dylan Duckworth, Audrey Griffin and Heather Whitlow.

The Hilltoppers are back in action on Friday and Saturday at UAB’s Green and Gold Invite in Birmingham.

Women’s Results

100m

2nd – Queen Couch – 12.12*

400m Hurdles

11th – Rachel Payne – 1:07.98

16th – Audrey Griffin – 1:09.12*

800m

3rd – Savannah Heckman – 2:18.94*

9th – Lucy Rutherford – 2:22.29*

10th – Madeline Powell – 2:22.93

31st – Jenna Vaughn – 2:31.87

47th – Lauren Dowd – 2:54.77

1500m

1st – Savannah Heckman – 4:33.32*

4th – Lucy Rutherford – 4:39.11*

28th – Jenna Vaughn – 5:03.77

3000m Steeplechase

4th – Maddy Hurt – 12:10.60

High Jump

2nd – Katie Isenbarger – 1.75m (5′ 9″)

3rd – Grace Turner – 1.70m (5′ 7″)*

9th – Allison Arnett – 1.55m (5′ 1″)

Pole Vault

2nd – Grace Turner – 3.65m (11′ 11.75″)

3rd – Nikki Ogorek – 3.50m (11′ 5.75″)

4th – Heather Gaughran – 3.35m (10′ 11.75″)

7th – Allison Ferguson – 3.20m (10′ 5″)

Shot Put

2nd – Ines Lopez Arias – 14.29m (46′ 10.5″)*

Discus

11th – Ines Lopez Arias – 35.31m (115′ 10″)

19th – Mary Claire Redden – 28.41m (93′ 2.5″)

23rd – Rachel Flinchum – 23.14m (75′ 11″)

Hammer Throw

1st – Ajla Basic – 58.63m (192′ 4.25″)*

3rd – Aitana Safont Falomir – 56.72m (186′ 1″)*

8th – Ines Lopez Arias – 48.71m (159′ 9.75″)

10th – Tayelor Thrasher-Walker – 46.45m (152′ 4.75″)

15th – Rachel Flinchum – 41.34m (135′ 7.5″)

23rd – Ilana Anderson – 34.60m (113′ 6″)

Mary Claire Redden – NM

Javelin

14th – Ilana Anderson – 24.92m (81′ 9″)

18th – Heather Whitlow – 19.49m (63′ 11.25″)*

Men’s Results

100m

16th – Jaden Warner – 11.18

110m Hurdles

9th – Cedric Johnson – 15.23

400m Hurdles

2nd – Zackery Martinez – 54.98*

800m

1st – Dedrick Troxell – 1:54.30

2nd – Clint Sherman – 1:54.52*

10th – Steven Votaw – 1:59.15

25th – Dylan Duckworth – 2:03.25

26th – Rafael Teodoro Da Silva – 2:04.71

1500m

10th – Will Perrone – 4:03.60*

24th – Collin Pruitt – 4:19.63

3000m Steeplechase

3rd – Keegan Barnette – 9:48.20

5000m

1st – Dedrick Troxell – 14:48.20

2nd – Clint Sherman – 14:53.86

3rd – Keegan Barnette- 15:01.97

9th – Will Perrone – 15:31.82

19th – Collin Pruitt – 15:56.65

4×400-meter relay

4th – 3:24.09 – Z. Martinez, E. Bryant, R. Da Silva, C. Johnson

Pole Vault

1st – Devon Montgomery – 4.75m (15′ 7″)* – ties second best in school history

Jacob Luebbehsen – NH

Triple Jump

5th – Cedric Johnson – 13.77m (45′ 2″)*

Shot Put

1st – Kaison Barton (unattached) – 17.02m (55′ 10″)*

8th – John Elam (unattached) – 14.36m (47′ 1.25″)

Discus

10th – John Elam (unattached) – 39.44m (129′ 4.75″)

14th – Joel Dittoe – 37.13m (121′ 9.75″)

Hammer Throw

2nd – Brett Brannon – 53.44m (175′ 4″)

3rd – Kaison Barton (unattached) – 52.94m (173′ 8.25″)*

4th – Joel Dittoe – 52.32m (171′ 7.75″)*

5th – John Elam (unattached) – 50.67m (166′ 2.75″)

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