Samford rewrites more school records at Samford/UAB/BSC-Multi
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Samford track and field kicked off the first day of the Samford/UAB/BSC-Multi with the multi events, completing the women's pentathlon and running four of the seven men's heptathlon events. The Bulldogs placed two competitors in the top half of the pentathlon while two in the men's heptathlon sit in the top five.
Ashley Cope and Macy Conger competed in Wednesday's pentathlon, earning sixth (3,352) and tenth-place (3,191) finishes, respectively in a large field of over 20 competitors. Cope placed higher in the shot put (3rd, 35-5.75, 10.81m), long jump (6th, 17-1.25, 5.21m) and 800 meters (2nd, 2:22.92), while Conger edged her out in the 60-meter hurdles (10th, 9.23) and the high jump (8th, 5-1, 1.55m). Conger earned new PRs in the shot put (24-3.5, 7.09m) and 800 meters (2:29.80), as did Cope in the same events.
Through four of the seven events, Samford holds the third and fourth spots in the men's heptathlon. School record-holder Bo Ackerson-Gilroy is in third with 2,865 points, thanks to top-five finishes in the long jump (3rd, 21-2.5, 6.46m), 60-meter dash (5th, 7.28) and a win in the high jump 6-7 (2.01m). His marks in the long jump and 60-meter dash are personal bests.
Freshman Joshua Davies is hot on his heels in fourth place with 2,648, setting new collegiate bests in the 60-meter dash (7.44), shot put (40-3.25, 12.27m), long jump (20-10.5, 6.36m) and high jump (5-10.75, 1.80m). Junior Ben Davies, competing unattached, is in second with 3,028 points.
Day two of the Birmingham Indoor Invitational saw Samford's track and field squad re-write two more school records, as Bo Ackerson-Gilroy and Kyle Kirby improved on their own records in the men's heptathlon and the weight throw, respectively. Thursday action also included multiple new PRs and 21 top-ten finishes, including three other event titles.
Ackerson-Gilroy moved up one spot from Wednesday in the heptathlon, finishing in second with a school-record 5,172 points. He originally set the school record in the first meet of the season, totaling 5,149 in December's Birmingham Ice Breaker. He increased his standing thanks to a personal-best 8.35 in the 60-meter hurdles to place second, as well as a fourth-place finish in the pole vault (14-3.25, 4.35m) and a fifth-place finish in the 1,000 meters (2:56.90). Freshman Joshua Davies finished in seventh with a personal-best 4,589 points and Ben Davies, competing unattached, won the event with 5,504.
After winning this week's SoCon Field Athlete of the Week award for breaking the school record last week, Kirby one-upped himself Thursday with a best toss of 64-9.25 (19.74m), slightly improving on his mark of 64-7 (19.68m) from last weekend. The Longwood, Fla., senior came into this meet ranked 18th nationally and should move up even further with Thursday's performance. Teammate Thomas Oliver placed ninth (45-5.25, 13.85m). Kirby also earned a new PR in the men's shot put, placing ninth at 43-10.5 (13.37m), which moves him to third all-time at Samford.
Samford's outstanding pole vaulters took home victories yet again, with Claire Goodson (12-7.5, 3.85m) and Michael Seaman (16-10.75, 5.15m) earning titles in the women's and men's pole vault, respectively. In the women's competition, Ashley Cope placed second with a new PR of 12-1.5 (3.70m) and Laura Bedsole was not far behind, finishing fourth (10-8, 3.25m). Cope's new PR moves her to second all-time at Samford. The men's side was just as impressive, with Owen Wagoner (16-4.75, 5.00m) and Ryan Cook (15-11, 4.85m) rounding out a Samford top-three sweep with second and third place finishes, respectively. Wagoner's mark was also a new PR for the Fort Wayne, Ind., sophomore.
Samford's fourth event winner of the day was Julie McDonald in the women's 60-meter hurdles. She placed fifth in the prelims with a mark of 8.97 and came through strongly in the finals, crossing the line first with a new PR of 8.75. Her counterpart in the men's race, Cavan Corcoran, also qualified for the finals, placing ninth in the prelims (8.38) and placing sixth in the finals (8.25).
Jonathon Bush and Alex Richter paired up for a strong showing in the men's 200-meter dash, finishing back-to-back in third (22.23) and fourth (22.34), respectively, with Bush earning a new PR in the process to move to second all-time at Samford. Ramsey White set two new personal bests with strong performances in the 800 meters (2nd, 1:54.29) and the mile run (4th, 4:20.37). His 800-meter mark ranks third at Samford and his mile run time ranks seventh.
Bush, Richter and Corcoran all finished their day strong as members of the 1,600-meter relay team who, along with Henry Stevens-Carty, placed second in 3:19.75, barely one second behind event-winner Miami. This mark leads the SoCon and ranks second all-time at Samford. The women's 4x4 team of Marie Demedicis, Jessica Watson, Madeline Cross and Leslie Graf placed eighth (3:58.09).
Other top-ten finishes from the day include Bob Elliot II (6th, 6-6.75, 2.00m) and Tyler Kemp (6-4.75, 1.95m) in the men's high jump, Chenelle Terry in the women's high jump (6th, 5-5, 1.65m), Emily Allen in the weight throw (7th, 49-8.25, 15.14m), Demedicis in the 400-meter dash (8th, 57.96) and James Graham in the 3,000 meters (9th, 8:55.20).
Georgia Southern has strong outing at Samford/UAB/BSC-Multi
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- The Georgia Southern Track and Field team finished the first day of the Birmingham Invite at the Birmingham CrossPlex Wednesday. Sophomore Stephanie Hicks paced the Eagles, along with freshman Taylor Wade, finishing 13th and 16th in the Pentathlon, respectively.
Hicks’ finish included a second place finish in the 60-Meter hurdles (8.84) and a fifth place finish in the Shot Put (10.69/35’01.00). Wade took fifth in the 800-Meter (2:38.37) and also placed sixth in the 800-Meter (8.95).
Junior Sara Curry also added a fourth place finish in the 5000-Meter run with a time of 18:17.86.
Georgia Southern Track and Field finished up the second day of the Birmingham Invitational with a great effort Thursday evening. Brittani Martin, Alexis Jacobs, Charnelle Wray, Jasmine Billings, Taylor Wade and Kimberly Thomas paced the Eagles with top-ten finishes.
Martin took third in the 5000-Meter run with a time of 19:31.62, and Thomas placed ninth in the 400-Meter Dash with a time of 58.31. Jacobs and Wray came in at eighth and ninth in the Shot Put, respectively, with scores of 12.14/39’10.00 and 11.78/38’07.75.
Jasmine Billings and Taylor Wade rounded out the Eagles’ top-ten, finishing third (8.78) and seventh (8.99), respectively, in the 60-Meter Hurdles.
Along with the six top-ten finishes, the Eagles also took seven top-20 finishes on the day. The Eagles’ 4x400 Meter Relay team also took fourth to close out the day.