Desroy Jordan sets school record in big weekend at Gibson Invitational

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Vincennes University Track and Field teams headed into another big weekend of tough competition ranked in the Top-25 of this week’s USTFCCCA Polls with the VU men’s team slotted at No. 21 and the women’s team checking in at No. 24 in the country. The teams again headed up north to Indiana State University for a big three-day Gibson Invitational meet in Terre Haute which began Thursday morning. The first day of competition was highlighted by the first half of the men’s decathlon, which saw VU freshman Olegs Kozjakovs (Riga, Latvia) more than held his own, including taking the top spot in the shot put event with a throw of 15.05 meters and placing sixth in the long jump at 6.57 meters.

April 16, 2023

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Vincennes University Track and Field teams headed into another big weekend of tough competition ranked in the Top-25 of this week's USTFCCCA Polls with the VU men's team slotted at No. 21 and the women's team checking in at No. 24 in the country.

The teams again headed up north to Indiana State University for a big three-day Gibson Invitational meet in Terre Haute which began Thursday morning.

The first day of competition was highlighted by the first half of the men's decathlon, which saw VU freshman Olegs Kozjakovs (Riga, Latvia) more than held his own, including taking the top spot in the shot put event with a throw of 15.05 meters and placing sixth in the long jump at 6.57 meters.

Olegs returned to the ISU complex on Friday for the final five events of the decathlon and got off to another great start, placing ninth in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.33 seconds and taking the top spot in the discus with a throw of 43.37 meters.

Kozjakovs would sadly have to retire from the competition following the seventh event of the decathlon however after suffering an injury. He finished with 4,900 points and was well on pace to set a very competitive mark in the NJCAA rankings.

Friday also saw the running of the men's 5000-meter race, which was headlined by sophomore Ernest Momodu (Indianapolis, Ind.) placing 10th with a time of 15:34.51.

Friday also saw sophomore Giorgia Fino (Francavilla Fontana, Italy) place sixth in the women's javelin throw with an impressive 37.21 meters, followed by freshman Natalie Wagler (Montgomery, Ind.) who came in at 25.53 meters and placed 14th.

The main event of the three-day meet was on Saturday which saw the Blazers have another big day among several NCAA Division I programs.

The biggest highlight of Saturday was obviously freshman Desroy Jordan (Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) who led the VU men's team after taking the top spot in the 400-meter dash with a time of 46.87, besting the field by a full second, before returning to the track to place second in the 200 meters with a time of 20.78 seconds.

Jordan's times in these two events place him firmly on the VU school record list, with his time in the 400 coming in second in school history and currently 10th in the NJCAA this year and his time in the 200 set a new school record and places him sixth in the NJCAA this season.

Jordan was joined in the 200-meter dash by freshman Justin Emmanuel (Jamaica) who placed eighth with a time of 21.37 seconds, after getting the day started in the 100 meters, placing 11th at 10.68 seconds.

The VU men's team did not stop there however with sophomore Mathew Keitany (Kenya) and freshman Isaac Stanford (Flora, Ill.) holding their own in the 1500 meters with Keitany placing third at 3:53.17 and Stanford clocking in at 3:54.20 and taking home fifth overall.

These times mean that Keitany is now ranked third and Stanford is now fourth in VU school history in that event.

VU freshman Paketo Dudley (Kingston, Jamaica) also had a good meet while competing unattached Saturday, taking home the top spot in the triple jump with a distance of 15.02 meters, beating the next best jumper by nearly three feet.

The VU women's team was highlighted Saturday by freshman pole vaulter and NJCAA Indoor All-American Ysnaira Dos Santos Vieira (Brazil) who placed 14th after clearing a height of 3.30 meters.

"We finally got to compete with some good weather and had some incredible performances," VU Head Track and Field Coach Marty Rogier said. "The men took several spots on VU's All-Time record list. Desroy had an amazing day with two outstanding races. Starting with a big PR in the 400 and a couple of hours later setting the fastest time in school history in the 200."

"Justin also had two nice PRs with a 10.68 in the 100 and a 21.37 in the 200," Rogier added. "It was a perfect day and the sprints were very, very fast, so those are some really good performances."

"Giorgia had a good performance, finishing sixth in the javelin against a really good field of throwers," Rogier said. "And Paketo, competing unattached, won the triple jump with a PR of 15.02. That was a really good effort and would be a school record in an event he has not done in six years. I'm really excited for his future in both the triple and long jumps."

"But we also had some setbacks and are still dealing with some injuries," Roger added. "Olegs was on his way to a really solid decathlon when he suffered an injury and had to withdraw from the competition after seven events. He had 4,900 points and was in fourth at the time."

"He got some really good points in the shot put and discus segments and expected to get some big points in the pole vault and javelin, but the injury cut it short," Rogier said. "He was on track to score about 6,800 points, which would be number one in the NJCAA this year."

"We are still also without Julia, who is currently ranked first in the pole vault," Rogier added. "So hopefully we get those two healed up by Nationals in May."

The VU Track teams as a whole placed well, with the VU men's team placing ninth overall with 29 points, with several more points left out on the table and the VU women's team placed 17th overall.

The Trailblazers will look to carry this strong momentum into their next competition when VU travels to Marion, Ind. to take part in the Indiana Little State Championships hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University on Friday April 21 and concluding on Saturday, April 22.

VINCENNES RESULTS

TEAM RESULTS

VU MEN – 9, 29 points

VU WOMEN – 17, 3 points

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

MEN'S RESULTS

100m

Justin Emmanuel – 11, 10.68

200m

Desroy Jordan – 2, 20.78

Justin Emmanuel 8, 21.37

400m