Red-shirt sophomore Jade Riebold will enter the Ohio Valley Conference Indoor Championship as the co-OVC Female Field Athlete of the Year. 

Splitting the award with Daniecce Ward of Tennessee State, Riebold enters the conference championship as the OVC’s top women’s pole vaulter with a mark of 13-feet, 6.5-inches. 

Riebold, who is also tied for No. 18 in the nation, has already made a tremendous impact in her first season as a Panther. 

After transferring from the University of Georgia, Riebold broke the Eastern record in her first meet, and eventually raised the bar even higher, breaking her own record two more times. 

Riebold also earned OVC best of the week honors three times in her first season.

Before the season even began, Riebold already had good feelings about the upcoming season, saying she was meshing well with her new team.

“I like them all. They’re really nice and I get along with all of them,” Riebold said before the team’s first meet of the season. “Everyone’s really nice here.”

Riebold said that she’s happy as long as things with the team are going well.

“As long as track is going good, then I’m happy,” she said.

The Panthers enter the OVC Indoor Championship leading the way in numerous events. 

Red-shirt senior Zye Boey leads the conference in both the men’s 60-meter and 200-meter dash, while senior Emily Quinones is No. 4 and No. 5 in the conference for the women’s 60 and 200-meter dash events.

Freshman Stefan Gorol is the No. 2 men’s 400-meter dash runner in the conference, but he is second only to freshman Blaxton Klavins of Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, who is ineligible for championship competition. 

Quninones and senior Bridget Sanchez are No. 6 and 7 in the women’s 400-meter dash, with sophomore Sharima Barrett of Jacksonville State leading the way.

Red-shirt junior Sean Wiggan is the No. 2 men’s 800-meter runner, while red-shirt senior Megan Gingerich is No. 2 in the women’s event. 

Junior Graham Morris is No. 3 in the mile run, junior Erika Ramos is No. 2 for the women. Morris is also No. 5 in the men’s 3,000-meter, with every runner in front of him being from Eastern Kentucky. Senior Caitlin Napoleoni is No. 5 in the women’s event. Senior Matt Feldhake is the No. 5 men’s 5,000-meter run, while Napoleoni and junior Gaby Duenas are No. 3 and 4 in the women’s event.

Senior Tyler Carter is No. 2 in the 60-meter hurdles, while sophomore Jalisa Paramore is No. 2 in the women’s event. The men’s 4×400-meter relay team ranks first in the OVC, while the women’s team is No. 2. Both the men’s and women’s distance medley relay teams hold the top teams in the OVC.

In field events, red-shirt sophomore Mick Viken holds the top spot in the men’s pole vault, while junior Bryce Hogan is No. 4 in the men’s high jump. Senior Donald Romero is No. 1 in the men’s weight throw.

The Panthers have won three straight championships on both the men’s and women’s sides.

The meet is hosted in Nashville, Tenn., with the first event starting at 1 p.m. With the women’s long jump. The meet concludes on Feb. 25.

 Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-7942 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.