BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Southeast Missouri Track and Field squads had a strong start to the Indiana Invitational including two event wins.
 
Among the event winners included Nova Ojutkangas, who won the 5000-meters finishing with a time of 17:05.55. The other event winner for SEMO was Garrett Dumke, who paced a field of Redhawks winning the men's 5000-meters with a time of 15:00.77. 
 
In the hurdles, Anna Thomason continued her standout season. The senior placed first in the women's 60m hurdles with a time of 8.49, then followed it up with a third place finish in the finals (8.48),  setting a new personal record. Teammate Brianna Dixon also advanced to the finals and finished fourth in 8.90, while Dixon added a sixth-place finish in the high jump after clearing 1.70-meters 
 
On the men's side, Marcus Gordon Jr. and Jon'David Whiteboth advanced out of the 60m hurdles prelims. Gordon finished fifth in the finals with a season-best 8.24, while freshman White placed seventh in 8.39 after setting a personal best in the prelims.
 
Field events provided additional highlights, led by Sullivan Gleason and Colin Beers, who tied for second and fourth in the pole vault after both clearing 15-11. In the men's weight throw, Marshall Swadley earned a third-place finish with a throw of 65-4.5, supported by strong marks from Trenton Braswell and freshman Zavier Winton. On the women's side, Alyssa Repke, Bailie Hux, Andreese Ortiz all finished inside the top 12 of the weight throw.
 
The invitational will finish Saturday morning with the rest of the field events starting at 10 a.m. and the track races starting at noon.