Figueroa, Tollerud shine as Flashes win seven events at Northeast Ohio Quad
Kent State senior thrower Gabrielle Figueroa placed first in the women’s hammer throw at the Northeast Ohio Quad with a mark of 62 meters, which broke the school record.
“I’m happy with my mark so far, but I just opened up,” Figueroa said. “Hopefully I’ll continue to break my current record.”
In total, the Flashes won seven events at the Northeast Ohio Quad this weekend.
Samantha Tollerud placed third in the women’s pole vault at 4.18 meters, which earned her a spot in the 2018 NCAA Regionals.
Nicole Yeargin placed first in the 300-meter dash at 38.24 seconds.
Vanessa Vodan placed first in the javelin throw at a mark of 45.00 meters, followed by Grace Tennant with a throw of 41.97 meters.
Jailyn Mosley won first in the discus throw at 46.97 meters. Tennant placed third with a mark of 44.58 meters.
Sarena Choi placed first in the triple jump at 11.58 meters.
Ryan Palm placed first in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at a time of 10 minutes and 28.20 seconds.
Trevor Detillion placed first in the discus throw with a mark of 52.71 meters. Douglas Moorer placed third with a 51.02-meter throw.
David Paliscak, who also competed in the indoor season, placed second in the shot put with a throw of 16.35 meters. Walter Petzel followed Paliscak in third with a mark of 16.13 meters.
“I actually prefer outdoor opposed to indoor,” Paliscak said. “The concrete ring is easier to turn on. The steel shot fits better on the hand rather than the rubber indoor ones. Also, just being outside is nice as well. But the weather has been pretty bad lately so that makes it tough to throw in.”
Craig Stevens Jr. placed second in the triple jump with a mark of 14.46 meters, followed by Anthony Milliner who placed third with a mark of 14.09 meters.
Samory Fraga placed second in the men’s long jump with a distance of 6.99 meters, and Brad Jones placed third in the high jump with a height of 2.05 meters.
“It was fine for the first few hours outside on Saturday, but the discus throwers went later in the day and were just too cold to do anything too good,” said Nathan Fanger, Kent State’s associate head coach of throws. “Friday was OK for women’s hammer, but when the rain hit, it just got nasty, but the women’s javelin throw was pretty solid.”
The Flashes return to competition April 12-14 at the Tennessee Relays in Knoxville, Tennessee.
“Well, we finally get some warmth,” Fanger said. “We need to be warm to throw far.”
Laurene Darby is a sports reporter. Contact her at [email protected].