The Eastern men and women’s track and field teams were in action this weekend at the Drake Relays three-day meet.

Eastern had six individuals and two relay teams competing and the women’s distance medley relay set the school record with a time of 11 minutes and 34 seconds. The team included redshirt senior Kristen Paris, senior Anita Saffa, senior Julie James and senior Ivy Handley, which shattered the previous record by 16 seconds.  The women placed fifth in the race and have now earned the school record for the relay in both indoors and outdoors this season.

The men’s medley relay finished seventh with a time of three minutes and 23.23 seconds. The team consisted of senior Jamal Robinson, junior Lars Ott, sophomore Michael Miller and redshirt sophomore Michael Brown.

For the individuals, seniors Rachel Garippo and Ruth Garippo competed for the women in the women’s steeplechase. Rachel Garippo placed eighth in the race with a time of 10 minutes and 44.26 seconds. Ruth Garippo finished in 18th place with a time of 11 minutes and 12.72 seconds. Senior Bryn Buckwalter competed in the throws and placed 10th in the shot put.

The men had three individuals competing in the long jump and they all finished close together. Senior Kendall Williams had the best jump among Eastern competitors and finished in 11th. Junior Chrisford Stevens finished in 13th and junior Davion McManis was right behind him in 14th place.

On Friday, Paris had the best performance of the day for Eastern with a fourth-place finish in the women’s 800-meter. Paris had a time of two minutes and 9.36 seconds. Stevens had a 10th place finish in the long jump for the men.

Redshirt senior Angelica Anyaogu was 14th in the women’s long jump. She was also a part of the women’s 4×100-meter relay that finished in 12th place. The relay team consisted of Anyaogu, Saffa, junior Darneisha Spann and junior Nyjah Lane. They had a time of 47.18 seconds. Spann competed in the women’s 100-meter and placed 14th in the prelims.

In the men’s field events, sophomore Adam Kessler was 14th in the shot put, senior Riley Kittridge placed 19th in the shot put. Sophomore Clayton Turner competed in the javelin and finished 14th.

Eastern will return to action on Friday at the Indiana Billy Hayes Invitational. Following that they will be competing for the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Championships on May 11-13.

Mark Shanahan can be reached at 581-2812 or mmshanahan@eiu.edu