Western Kentucky’s track and field teams wrapped up the opening day of action at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships on Friday in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Natalie Papes was the first Hilltopper to earn a medal in an event, notching a second-place mark in the women’s pole vault.

The meet got underway with the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon. In the decathlon, Joey Raybourne finished in the top three on three occasions. Blake Foster managed top-five finishes on three occasions in the first leg of the event.

In the men’s hammer throw, Kaison Barton charted a fifth-place finish in the event with a mark of 57.47 meters. In the men’s long jump, Sterling Weldon claimed a fourth-place finish with a mark of 7.62 meters.

In the first track event of the day, the women’s 1,500, WKU’s Kalina Urbaniak managed a top-10 finish with a mark of 4 minutes, 35 seconds. Her finish along with Nayla Martin’s 12th-place mark earned them both a spot in the finals.

In the men’s event, Trevor Hudnall managed a fifth-place finish to qualify for the 1,500-meter finals.

Papes managed the first medal finish for the Hilltoppers in the women’s pole vault. Her mark of 4.02 meters was good for second place and a personal best. Papes claimed the lone medal of the day for WKU and her mark not only earned her the silver medal, but a PR with a mark of 4.02 meters. This also stands as the fifth best mark in program history.

Kameron Horton managed to qualify for Sunday’s 100-meter finals, setting a new personal best mark of 10.26, good for seventh place.

In the 110-meter hurdles, Van Thrasher earned a fourth place-finish, setting a PR, good enough to qualify for the finals on Sunday at 6:40 p.m.

Five Hilltoppers managed to qualify for final events in their respective events on the track. Five set a new personal best when the events of the day had been tallied.

WKU will continue action at the Conference USA Outdoor Championships on Saturday in Murfreesboro. Action is slated to get underway at 9:30 a.m. The meet will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Men’s Results

100 (Prelims)

7th – Kameron Horton – 10.26* (q)

13th – Zachariah Taylor – 10.41*

18th – Sterling Weldon – 10.53*

19th – Jayden Freeman – 10.53

400 (Prelims)

9th – Brunel Desinor – 47.82

1500 (Prelims)

5th – Trevor Hudnall – 3:57.94 (q)

10000

10th – Jake Younger – 33:38.25

110 Hurdles (Prelims)

4th – Van Thrasher – 13.86 (q)*

Long Jump

4th – Sterling Weldon – 7.62 (25-00)

14th – Van Thrasher – 6.84 (22-05.25)

16th – JonJon Hunter – 6.66 (21-10.25)

Hammer Throw

5th – Kaison Barton – 57.47 (188-06)

10th – Luke Stegman – 51.17 (167-10)

12th – Jesse Grace – 48.50 (159-01)

13th – Connor Owens – 45.42 (149-00)

14th – Hunter Coslow – 45.24 (148-05)

Decathlon

100

3rd – Joey Raybourne – 11.25

4th – Blake Foster – 11.46

400

2nd – Joey Raybourne – 50.17

7th – Blake Foster – 55.02

High Jump

6th – Blake Foster – 1.72 (5-07.75)

7th – Joey Raybourne – 1.60 (5-03)

Long Jump

3rd – Joey Raybourne – 6.43 (21-01.25)

5th – Blake Foster – 6.23 (20-05.25)

Shot Put

4th – Blake Foster – 11.77 (38-07.5)

7th – Joey Raybourne – 9.69 (31-09.5)

Women’s Results

100 (Prelims)

19th – Haley Zell – 12.01

1500 (Prelims)

10th – Kalina Urbaniak – 4:35.48 (q)

12th – Nayla Martin – 4:43.64 (q)

100 Hurdles (Prelims)

11th – Gianna Huerta – 14.81

Pole Vault

2nd – Natalie Papes – 4.02 (13-02.25)*

5th – Sophia Roskoski – 3.72 (12-02.5)

Long Jump

12th – Haley Zell – 5.68 (18-07.75)

Hammer Throw

11th – Aitana Safont Falomir – 49.04 (160-10)

19th – Jayla Gilbert – 42.86 (140-07)

Heptathlon

100

8th – Rachel Payne – 15.27

10th – Madison Rabe – 15.71

200

8th – Rachel Payne – 26.47

9th – Madison Rabe – 26.84

High Jump

2nd – Rachel Payne – 1.63 (5-04.25)

9th – Madison Rabe – 1.45 (4-09)

Shot Put

7th – Rachel Payne – 9.11 (29-10.75)

8th – Madison Rabe – 8.68 (28-05.75)