Washington and Hines team up again for AMC Athlete of the Week awards
A solid weekend for the UHSP Eutectics landed them three of the four American Midwest Conference Athletes of the Week in Track & Field. Taylor Washington was named the female athlete in both those categories for her performance at the Titan Open at Illinois Wesleyan while Jahari Hines was named the male Track Athlete of the Week, all for the week of Feb. 5-11. Brenin Howell of Columbia College was named the male Field Athlete of the Week. In a bit of irony, Hines and Washington teamed to land Athlete of the Week honors from the AMC at the same venue last season for the Titan First Chance Meet in Dec. 2022.
Washington claimed the Field portion of the AMC recognition for her efforts in breaking her own record that she held in the High Jump, eclipsing her previous mark of 4' 11" by 2.25 inches. Her official jump was 1.56m (5' 1.25"). Washington cleared the bar at 1.36m, 1.41m and 1.46m on three consecutive attempts without a miss. She failed in her first two attempts at 1.51m, but was able to leap over the bar on her final attempt. The 1.56m mark was no trouble for her as she cleared that on her first pass. Trying to improve on the new UHSP record she had just set at 1.56m, she missed on three chances at 1.61m. Washington finished second overall in the event out of 16 competitors. On the Track end of the AMC award, the UHSP speedster claimed the title in the 60m Hurdles in Bloomington, IL. She cruised to a win in the second preliminary heat besting her nearest competitor by more than one second as she ran a sub-10.0, 9.47. Washington shaved more time off her prelim run when she took the final with a run of 9.44, missing out on her personal best by just .16 seconds. She held off Grace Graham (Maryville) in the finals who finished second, .22 seconds behind Washington.
On the men's side, it was Jahari Hines who claimed third place in the men's 400m. Hines ran a :51.25 in the finals, just missing his personal best by :01.36 seconds. He finished .35 seconds out of second place and missed first by .36 seconds. He would also take sixth place overall in the 200m with a time of 23.19, just missing a top-five finish by .04 seconds.
Both Washington and Hines are back on the track this coming weekend for the AMC Championships at Principia College. It is the third and fourth time this season and fifth time overall that Washington has been named AMC Athlete of the Week. For Hines, this marks his second career AMC Athlete of the Week award.