Jerimiah Evans Leads Spartan Throwers at Fighting Illini Big Ten Relays

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Jerimiah Evans captures two titles over the weekend to lead the Spartan throwers at the Fighting Illini Big Ten Relays, April 23-24 at Demirjian Park in Champaign, Illinois.

"I really liked the fact that people stepped up this weekend that is something that we have talked about for a long time and now they are starting to see all that hard work that they are putting is paying off, especially as we get closer to Big Tens," Assistant Track & Field Coach Lonnie Pugh said.

In Friday's action, the Spartan earned several medals. On the men's side, Jerimiah Evans set a new personal best en route to winning the shot put. With his sixth and final attempt, he set a new PR with a heave of 19.03m to take the title. His previous best came last week at the Big Ten Indiana Invite #3 with a throw of 18.63m.

Rebecca Mammel had a season-best throw of 60.23m to take second in the women's hammer throw. She was just shy of her personal best which was 60.98m at the Virginia Challenge in 2019. Mammel and Nikole Sargent were back in action in the women's discus open. Mammel finished first with a huge personal-best (49.08m). Her previous PR was 46.42m at the Big Ten North Florida Invitational. Sargent took third with a throw of 47.23m

Brittany Krug finished third in the javelin with a throw of 45.33m. Friday's action concluded with Frank Braccini in the men's javelin. He finished seventh with a best throw of 52.91m.

On the track, the Spartans had a pair of athletes in action. Tamea McKelvy recorded a time of 25.27 in the 200m and had a new PR in the 400m with a time of 58.55. Zach DiStefano set a new personal best in the 200m (21.92), while crossing the line with a time of 50.26 in the 400m.

On Saturday, Sargent took third place in the women's shot put open. With her third attempt, she secured third with a throw of 14.70m.

Evans won his second event of the weekend in the men's discus. With his first throw, he took the lead with a heave of 53.62m. On his fourth attempt he extended his lead with his winning throw of 55.92m.

"As we head to the end of the season, I hope that we can iron out some of the kinks that we saw this weekend, and then ultimately make sure that our head space is right for that championship weekend. We also have to make sure that our confidence is top notch. We need to make sure that we eliminate as many distractions as possible and be the best teammates that we can be," Pugh said.

This was the Spartans first chance to compete at Demirjian Park which is the site of the Big Ten Championships.

'It was very important to see the track, smell the track, to become as familiar as they can, especially since we are staying at the same hotel. All of these play a big part of the Big ten Championship weekend. We should haven't have any excuse to not show up and do what we need to do at the Big Ten Championship," Pugh added.

Next week, Michigan State unites the whole team for its fourth trip to Bloomington, Indiana for the Big Ten Indiana Invite #4 April 30-May 1.

Jerimiah Evans Leads Spartan Throwers at Fighting Illini Big Ten Relays

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Players Mentioned

Frank Braccini

Jerimiah Evans

Rebecca Mammel

Tamea McKelvy