Women's Outdoor Track and Field Southern Conference

Davidson Hosts Annual Irwin Belk Invitational

DAVIDSON, N.C. -- Davidson used a home track advantage to set a school record and win multiple events at the annual Irwin Belk Invitational on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. The Wildcat relay teams led the way with the men winning 4x400 meters and finishing third in the 4x100. The Davidson women took the 4x400 crown.

Senior Ben Gaspar won the 3000 by running over 10 seconds faster than the next closest competitor. Classmate Dave Bunge followed in the 3000 with a fifth place run. Freshman David Ritchie continued to impress by winning the 400 meter hurdles with a personal best time of 54.55. He edged out Western Carolina's Lawrence Briscoe by 0.03 seconds. Another rookie, Francisco Morales, ran a personal-best in the 400 hurdles to finish third. Other individual highlights came in the 800 meters where senior Greg Scott came in third and junior Nick Lehman ran a personal record to collect ninth.

The men showed their team depth in the relay events. Senior Andrew Pratt, freshman John Bialas, Scott and Ritchie combined to run a school-record time of 3:20.93 to finish first. The 4x100 team of senior Chris Rouisse, Pratt, Bialas and Ritchie took third.

The women also got a strong run from their 4x400 winning team of senior Kate Wilson, sophomore Hilary Leister, junior Ashley Griffith and sophomore Allie Martin. Sophomore Carissa Skrivanek followed the lead of her male counterpart in the 3000 by taking the top spot in that event. Junior Sally Stanhope followed in fourth in the 3000. Martin and Griffith combined to take fourth and fifth respectively in the 1500. Senior McKensy Gruelle tossed the second-farthest javelin throw in school history to take seventh in that event.

This is Davidson's final tune-up before the all-important SoCon Championships. The championships begin on April 1st and will be held on the campus of Appalachian State University.