Washington Improves Own Record as Eutectics Compete Well at Titan Open
In the penultimate meet to the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Eutectic women's team competed at the Titan Open hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington on Saturday. There were several stand-out performances, including a number-one finish and new UHSP record for Taylor Washington.
Washington improved on her own UHSP record in the High Jump, leaping 1.56m (5'1.25") to finish in second place (on misses) of 16 jumpers at the meet. She improved on her previous record set earlier this season by 2.25 inches and becomes the first UHSP women's athlete to break the indoor five-foot mark. In addition, Washington won the 60m Hurdles, running 9.47 in the preliminaries and improving to 9.44 in the finals to beat the second-place finisher (Grace Graham from Maryville University) by .22 seconds. Washington heads into the AMC Championships with the best marks in the Conference in both events.
Hanna Burch led the UHSP throwers with a seventh-place finish and new personal-best throw of 11.18m (36'8.25"). Burch's mark is within .03m of the fifth-best thrower in the AMC heading into the championships next weekend.
Alyssa McPike finished 11th of 31 entrants in the 800m Run on Saturday with a time of 2:33.96. McPike is the defending AMC champion for the Indoor 600m. Her season-best time of 2:32.21 ranks sixth in the AMC performance list.
Other personal-best performances at the meet came from Paulina Gutierrez-Trejo in the 200m Dash, Abbey Baxter in the Mile, and Mariah Scott and Payton Burke in the 400m Dash.
The Eutectics will spend this week in preparation for the AMC Indoor Championships scheduled for Saturday, February 17, at Coach Crafton Center on the Principia College campus in Elsah, Ill.