GREENVILLE, Ill. - Webster University complete the first day of action at the 2019 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's and Women's Track and Field Championships by winning gold medals in the women's triple jump and pole vault and the men's javelin at the John M. Stahl Complex on the campus of Greenville University. 

The remainder of this year's SLIAC Championship Meet will be contested on Saturday, April 27 at Greenville University beginning at 9 a.m. 

On the women's side, sophomore Johnae' Hightower (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee's Summit North) repeated as the league champion in the triple jump as she recorded a leap of 10.24 meters (33-07.25) to take home first place honors in the event for the second consecutive season. In addition to Hightower, the Gorloks scored a total of 22 points in the event on Friday evening as sophomore Vanessa Jones (Orlando, Fla./Lake Minneola) placed second with a jump of 9.69 meters (31-09.50) and senior Anna Grobelny (Fenton, Mo./Northwest) placed fourth with a leap of 9.36 meters (30-08.50). 

Webster's other gold medalist on Friday was junior Meredith Sowers (Rolla, Mo./Rolla) as she took home first place honors in the pole vault with a vault of 2.88 meters (9-05.25). Sowers finished second in the pole vault at last year's championship meet. In addition to Sowers, Jones placed third with a vault of 2.13 meters (6-11.75). 

In addition to scoring 22 points in the triple jump, Webster tallied seven points in the 10,000-meter run as sophomore Kalleigh Linthicum (Lake St. Louis, Mo./Timberland) placed fourth with a time of 42:33.34. In addition to Linthicum, junior Jessica Phibbs (Vancouver, Wash./Mountain View) was fifth with a time of 45:37.49 and junior Megan Schramm (Rochelle, Ill./Rochelle) placed sixth with a time of 46:40.24.

Junior Abbie Stolzer (Sainte Genevieve, Mo./Sainte Genevieve) finished fourth in the discus with a toss of 33.06 meters (108-05). Along with Stolzer, junior Miranda Green (Joplin, Mo./McAuley Catholic) and senior Bailey Badger (Richland, Mo./Richland) were 11th and 12th in the discus with tosses of 26.59 meters (87-03) and 25.36 meters (83-02) respectively. 

The final event for the women on Friday was the javelin and Green just missed scoring in the event as she placed seventh with a toss of 25.40 meters (83-04). 

Entering Saturday's final day, Webster, who is the defending SLIAC Champion. has scored a total of 49 points to sit in first place, while Fontbonne is second with 37 points and Greenville is third with 28 points.

Meanwhile, on the men's side, senior Dimitrije Mitic (Belgrade, Serbia/Secondary School Serbia Montenegu) was the champion in the javelin with a toss of 49.06 meters (160-11). Last season, Mitic was second in the javelin at the championship meet. In fact, Webster finished 1-2-3-5 in the event as graduate student Mason Stevens (Oakdale, Calif./Dixon) was second with a toss of 44.90 meters (147-04), while senior Coale Dolbert (Farmer City, Ill./Blue Ridge) was third with a toss of 43.14 meters (141-06) and freshman Edward Tinnemeyer (St. Louis, Mo./Jakarta Intercultural) was fifth with a toss of 38.40 meters (126-00). 

In the pole vault, Stevens placed second overall with a mark of 4.00 meters (13-01.50) and Tinnemeyer was third with a toss of 3.45 meters (11-03.75) as the Gorloks scored 14 points in the events. 

Sophomore Nathan Freyling (St. Louis, Mo./Fox) placed third in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 33:53.08, while junior Abram Donovan (Saint Paul, Minn./Highland Park) was fourth with a time of 34:23.07 and senior Jordan Benton (Wentzville, Mo./Fort Zumwalt North) was sixth with a time of 37:38.83. 

The final event for the men on Friday was the triple jump and the Gorloks scored a total of five points in the event as freshman DeAngelo Kelly (St. Louis, Mo./Miller Career Academy) was fourth with a leap of 13.39 meters (43-11.25) and Tinnemeyer was sixth with a jump of 12.92 meters (42-04.75). In addition to Kelly and Tinnemeyer, junior Jose Mejia (Miami, Fla./Miami Jackson) was ninth with a leap of 11.64 meters (38-02.25) and freshman Censere Brown (St. Louis, Mo./Maplewood-Richmond Heights) was 10th with a jump of 9.92 meters (32-06.50). 

Entering Saturday's final day, Webster sits in second place with 56 points. Greenville holds the overall team lead as the two-time defending SLIAC Champion Panthers have tallied 74 points, while Principia College is third with 12 points.