The Western Illinois track and field team competes at the Hawkeye Invite on Friday and Saturday this weekend in Iowa City. Competing teams include Ball State, Bradley, Indian Hills CC, Iowa, Iowa Central CC, Missouri and Northern Iowa. Friday’s competition consists of only the weight throw. Saturday, field events begin at 11 a.m and running events at 12:15 p.m. The Leathernecks look forward to 2023 competitions with new talent added to the roster.
“Without being able to see much of our student-athletes for the past month, I’m not entirely sure what to expect this weekend at Iowa,” coach Trey Brokaw said. “We will find out quickly who was able to get in the work and who wasn’t. The performances of our student-athletes are largely in their control and Christmas break training is crucial for their indoor season development.
“We do have some new faces joining the squad this semester. Temira Goods, Alessandro Belluz and Lucas Burmeister will definitely help us out this season on the track and in the field events.”
New Mid-Year Transfers:
Temira Goods – Transfer from Indian Hills Community College boasts personal best times of 57.88 in the 400 meters and 25.26 in the 200 meters.
“Temira was a team leader and national qualifier for Indian Hills Community College. Coach Ewing has done an exceptional job developing that program and he highly recommended Temira,” Brokaw said. “She will add some much needed depth to our women’s sprint group. Her, Nakeita Kessling, Aliyah Adams, Briza Dure, Zwandi Harrison, and Monique Remy all have the potential to be viable sub-57.00 options for the 4 x 400 relay indoors.”
Alessandro Belluz – Sophomore Transfer from Oral Roberts University has a personal best high jump of 1.97m (6 feet 5.5 inches) and 6.72m (22 feet .75 inches) in the long jump.
“Sandro is transferring from Summit League rival, Oral Roberts. He fills a void in the men’s high jump and he can do the horizontal jumps too. Last year was his first year ever doing track & field, which means he has a lot of room for improvement,” Brokaw said. “He is a natural athlete. At 6′ 5″, 190 Sandro could play just about any sport he wanted to. We might even try the decathlon once he gets settled in.”
Lucas Burmeister – Freshman Transfer from Kirkwood Community College has a personal best 200 meter time of 22.27 from high school.
“I tried very hard to recruit Lucas last year when he was a senior at Central Clinton High School in Iowa. He finished second as a junior at the Iowa State Championships in the 200 meters. Recruiting in Iowa is difficult because they run on so many relays. If you’re not at the meet or able to see film, it can be difficult to know how fast a recruit is. Lucas was no exception.” Brokaw said. “Despite his lack of open 400 opportunities, Lucas has split 48.5 on the 4×400 relay, which will likely be his main event at the Division I level.”
Next Up:
The Leathernecks head back to Iowa City for the Larry Wieczorek Invite on Jan. 20 – 21.
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