The Butler track and field team will split into two groups to compete in two separate meets this weekend. The majority of the team will head to Nashville to compete in the Vanderbilt Black & Gold Invitational and a group of distance runners will travel to Eastern Kentucky University and compete in the Rick Erdmann Twilight.
 
Both meets will start on Friday, April 16, and conclude the following day, Saturday, April 17.
 
The Bulldogs are coming off a training week after a strong showing at the Redbird Invitational hosted by Illinois State. On the men's side of the meet, Tom Pitkin won the 400m hurdles with a Butler recording setting time of 52.70. Brendan Watkins won the triple jump with a mark of a wind-aided 14.46m, and Drew Herman made his Butler debut with a win in the high jump with a mark of 1.92m. On the women's side, Rebecca Collester won the 200-meters with a time of a wind-aided 24.19.
 
At EKU, Butler will have men competing in the 1,500- and 5,000-meters as well as the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
 
In the 1,500-meters, Jesse Hamlin, Simon Bedard, Euan Makepeace, and Matthew Wigelsworth will all compete. All four bulldogs are expected to finish with impressive times in the competitive event. Wigelsworth finished second in the 800-meters with a time of 1:52.32 at Illinois State two weeks ago.
 
Remi Schyns will make his Butler 3,000-meter steeplechase debut at his former school. At EKU in 2019, Schyns was an NCAA East Regional Qualifier in the event. He will be joined by Jonathan Besselink and Clark Otte. Otte has the best steeplechase time for Butler this season at 8:58.87.
 
The third and final event that the Butler men will be competing in at Eastern Kentucky is the 5,000-meter run. Evan Byrne, Pierre-Louis Detourbe, and Jackson Martin will be representing Butler in the event. Jack McMahon will run unattached in the 5,000-meter, as well. 
 
The Bulldog women competing in the Rick Erdmann Twilight are Corinna Pena, Katherine Olsen, Mia Beckham, and Angelina Ellis.
 
Pena and Olsen will run the 1,500-meters after they each ran personal best times in the event at the Raleigh Relays last month.
 
In the 5,000-meters, Mia Beckham will compete in the event after setting a personal best time of 16:38.72 in the event her last time out at the Raleigh Relays.
 
Finally, at EKU, Angelina Ellis will run the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Ellis ran her personal best time of 10:16.33 at the Raleigh Relays which was good for tenth in the elite field.
 
At Vanderbilt, Pitkin will lead the Butler men and compete in the 400-meter hurdles again after setting the Butler record in the event last time out. He will also compete in the 200-meter dash for the first time this season.
 
Jacob Uhl will join Pitkin in the 200-meters and run the 400 as well. Uhl finished second in the event at the Redbird Invitational with a time of 48.47.
 
Chandler McGaha and Trey Harris will run the 800-meters. McGaha finished second in the 800 with a personal best time of 3:53.26 at Illinois State.
 
Conor Naughton, Ryan Adkins, Blake Roberts, Sean Robertson, and Will Minnette will all run the 5,000-meter run. At Illinois State, Roberts, Robertson, and Minnette finished 5-7, with Roberts leading the group at 15:08.67 and Robertson and Minnette finishing less than a second behind.
 
Isaac Kane and Garrett Kern will run the 100-meter dash. Kern ran a personal best time in the event at the Redbird Invitational, finishing in 10.87.
 
Rounding out the track events are James Sweeney and Jack Wilson competing in the 3,000-meters.
 
In the field events, two men who won at Illinois State will compete in the same events this weekend, with Drew Herman competing in the high jump and Brendan Watkins in the triple jump.
 
Herman's win was in his Butler debut, and he cleared the high jump mark of 1.92m.
 
Watkins's triple jump winning mark was a wind-aided 14.46m; he will also compete in the long jump this weekend.
 
On the women's side of the Black & Gold, Rebecca Collester, Carson Fields, and Lily Hess will run the 100- and 200-meter dashes. At Illinois State two weeks ago, Collester won the 200-meters with a time of 24.19, and Fields won the 100 with a time of 11.68.
 
Erin Haugh and Jill Vogler will join them in the 200-meters and will also run the 400. Vogler finished fourth in the 400-meters at Illinois state with a personal record time of 57.20.
 
In the 800-meters, Morgan Walsh and Madison Provo will represent Butler in the event. Provo ran a time of 2:15.34 at the Redbird Invitational, just shy of her personal best.
 
In the distance events, the Bulldogs will have several strong competitors hit the track.
 
Margo Hornocker, Camille Hines, Kami Hankins, and Abby Olson will all run the 3,000-meters. Hornocker and Hankins each set personal best times in the 5,000-meters the last time they competed in a meet.
 
Emily Royston will make her season debut in the 5,000-meters; this is her first appearance on the track since early 2020. Joining Royston in the event is Maddie McLain.
 
The women multi-event athletes Niki Ezeh, Nina Hilt, and Karmen Koch will compete in multiple events throughout the weekend to prepare for upcoming heptathlons.
 
Hilt and Koch will compete in the 100-meter hurdles, long jump, shot put, and javelin. With Ezeh joining them in the 100 hurdles and shot put.