The Eastern jumping teams were the big winners on Saturday at the Wabash Invitational in Crawfordsville, Ind.

Sophomore jumper Ian Winston and freshman jumper LaDonna Martin won jumping events, while they finished second in another jumping event.

For the men’s team, sophomore jumper Ian Winston won the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 4 inches and came in second in the triple jump with a mark of 44’4.75″.

“Ian had a great meet and did a great job for us,” said Eastern head women’s coach Mary Wallace. “Coach (JaRod) Tobler is definitely pleased with his progression.”

Martin won the long jump with a mark of 16’8″ and took second in the triple jump with a mark of 35’0.5″.

“LaDonna is learning how to be a competitor,” Wallace said. “She is learning a lot and getting there technically. She had an opportunity to compete this weekend, and she took advantage of it.”

Even though she finished well, Martin was not completely satisfied with her performance.

“I was satisfied with my triple jump, but not with my long jump,” Martin said. “I know I have the potential to do much better in the long jump.”

Martin said she will be working on technical work on her jumps this week in practice to improve her long jump.

Only a small number of Eastern athletes competed at Knowling Fieldhouse. This was supposed to be an open date for athletes to rest. Injuries and illness of participants from last week’s Indiana Relays persuaded the coaches to decide to make the meet open to athletes.

Wallace said she was pleased with the performance of the athletes at the event and said sophomore middle-distance runner Erin O’Grady, Martin and junior thrower Angela Stoczynski performances stood out for her on the women’s team.

O’Grady finished second in the one-mile run (5:08.68), while senior middle-distance runner Amy LeJeune finished third (5:30.20).

“(O’Grady) took the lead early, but started to get challenged,” Wallace said. “But she came back hard at the end and ran a very good race.”

The men’s team had equal success as senior middle-distance runner Clint Coffey finished third (4:29.27) in the one-mile run, and freshman distance runner Matt Detloff finished fourth (4:29.41) in the same event.

In the 3,000-meter run, freshman distance runner Ryan Hoklas finished second (9:04.70), and freshman middle-distance runner Derek Ericson finished third (9:07.45).

The Panthers will compete next at the Iowa State Classic at Iowa State on Friday and Saturday in Ames, Iowa.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.

Junior thrower Angela Stoczynski practice the wind up for the hammer throw during a February practice at Lantz Field House. (John Bailey

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