Squibbs and Johnson lead ETSU on day one at Music City Challenge
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Brett Squibbs (Rock Hill, S.C.) and Benjamin Johnson (Nashville, Tenn.) led the ETSU men’s and women’s track and field teams as Squibbs finished top-5 in the men’s pole vault, and Johnson crushed a personal best in the weight throw on the first day of the Music City Challenge in Nashville on Friday.
Highlights of Day One
· The senior, Squibbs, led the Bucs as he finished fifth in the men’s pole vault final. Squibbs came in a three-way tie as he notched a 5.05m mark. In the three meets he has participated in this season, he has finished in the top-5 in every event including finishing second at the Buccaneer Track and Field Invitational in Johnson City last weekend.
· A native of the host site, Nashville, Johnson performed well in front of the home crowd as he crushed the weight throw. He out-threw his previous best, which he achieved last weekend by 1.25 meters. The red-shirt sophomore has been dominating competition as he has placed in the top-10 in all four meets in the weight throw this season. Johnson finished sixth today in a competitive field with a mark of 18.91m.
· Senior, Katrina Seymour (New Providence, Bahamas), nearly set a personal best as she competed in a 79-person 200m dash event. She was just 0.01 seconds away from matching her personal best as she crossed with a 24.63 time. Seymour finished in 12th and was 0.26 seconds away from tying fifth place.
· Adriana Watkins (Kingsport, Tenn.) set a personal best as she leapt to a 12.00m mark in the women’s triple jump. She broke her previous best of 11.58m, which she set last weekend in the Buccaneer Track and Field Invitational.
· Lamisha Simmons (Dania Beach, Fla.) also set a personal best as she competed in the women’s 200m. She set her previous best of 25.45 at the ETSU Track and Field Invitational, but she knocked off 0.12 seconds to claim a new best mark.
Information on Day Two
The second and final day of the Music City Challenge is filled with many track and field events. The Bucs will limit themselves to their primary event to prepare and stay healthy for the Southern Conference Indoor Championships, which begins Feb. 25 inside the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center in Johnson City.
The final day will feature 23 events with most of the events being finals. The only events that feature a preliminary round are the men’s and women’s 60m hurdles and 60m dash. These four prelims start at 2 p.m. with the women’s 60mH.
The first event of the second day will be the women’s 3000m, which begins at 11 a.m., Eastern Time. The final event will start at 6:15 p.m. with the men’s 4x400.
Four Paladin Indoor Track & Field Records Fall on Friday
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Four Paladin indoor track and field records fell on Friday, as Furman competed at both the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, and at the Samford University Invitational in Birmingham, Ala.
In Iowa, senior Tanner Hinkle returned after spending the fall semester overseas and set a new Furman with a time of 14:13.42 in the 5,000m, placing third and dropping over a second off his previous school record, which he set last season. Senior Troy Reeder posted a time of 8:00.07 and finished eighth in the Invitational 3,000m, breaking his own previous record, which he set in 2015, by over two seconds. Senior Allie Buchalski won the Invitational 5,000m with a time of 15:46.86 at the meet, breaking the previous record of 16:35.17, set by Sinead Haughey in 2015.
Sophomore Quandarius Weems posted a time of 8.19 in the 60m high hurdles at Samford, topping the prior Furman record of 8.83 which was set by Will Johnson in 2008, and finishing seventh in the event’s finals.
The Paladins notched five additional top-10 finishes at the Samford meet, with freshman Luke Meade placing second in the 3,000m with a time of 8:28.85, and junior Jacquelyn Crow taking tenth in the 800m at 2:16.28. In the women’s mile, rookie Riley Burr crossed the line in 5:00.32 to capture first place, and senior Ann Sisson finished third at 5:01.78. Crow placed eighth in the event with a time of 5:04.96.
Furman recorded four other top-10 finishes in Iowa. Freshman Savannah Carnahan was second in the 5,000m with a time of 16:49.35, while senior Laura Miller placed tenth in the event at 17:05.29. Senior Matt Lange turned in a third-place finish with a time of 8:18.91 in the 3,000m, and junior Aaron Templeton placed sixth with a time of 14:24.31 in the 5,000m.
The Iowa State Classic will conclude on Saturday. Sophomore Ryan Adams will compete in the 800m, and rookie Jake Ogden will run the mile.
Men’s DMR Leads Keydets on Opening Day at Marshall
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – An IC4A qualifying effort by the men's distance medley relay team led the VMI track and field efforts on the opening day of the Chipotle Marshall Invitational, contested Friday in Huntington, W.Va.
The Keydets were victorious in the DMR in a time of 10:16.32, as Luke Phillips, Kevin Bishop, Josh Willard and Jay Broom teamed up for the victory. The race was unusually close for a DMR, as four teams finished within four seconds of the race winners.
Another highlight of Friday's action was Andrew Arlint's third place finish in the men's pole vault, as the sophomore cleared 4.45 meters (14'7 1/4") to earn the podium result.
Finally, Brandon White finished eighth in the men's 5K in an indoor best time of 14:55.59 as he became just the sixth runner in school history to break the 15-minute barrier in the event, and the women's DMR - Bethany King, Olivia Cotton, Julianne Knoblett and Logan Luckett - finished fourth (12:31.04) with the fourth-best time in program annals.
VMI track and field will return to action Saturday, when the Keydets wrap up competition at Marshall. Action gets underway at 9 a.m.
Western Carolina Track & Field Excels at Samford Invite
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Western Carolina men’s and women’s track & field teams traveled to Birmingham, Ala., Friday to compete in the one day Samford Invitational. The Catamounts picked up several top-10 performances while winning the men’s 4x400m relay. With the 2017 Southern Conference Indoor Championships just two weeks away, the Catamounts are beginning to fine tune their individual event performances.
The women finished fifth as a team out of a 15 team field while the men placed eighth out of 12 teams overall.
In the men’s 4x400m relay the Catamounts placed two teams in the top-10 led by their “A” squad who won the event with a time of 3:16.48. The “B” squad finished seven spots back in eighth with a time of 3:27.30.
Freshman Di'Joun Huitt earned a second place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 14.61m.
Freshman Jazmine Gooden ran the second fastest time in the SoCon this season in the women’s 60m hurdles as she earned third in the event after stopping the clock in 8.60. Gooden also finished fifth in the long jump as she touched down in 5.68m.
Freshman Imani Bennett and sophomore Tamilia Wright picked up top-five finishes in the women’s triple jump. Bennett finished third with a mark of 11.93m while Wright came in fifth at 11.52m.
Sophomore Kaitlyn Lingard posted the third fastest time in the SoCon this season in the women’s 800m as she completed the distance in 2:13.35.
Senior Tiffani Lewis and sophomore Mia Little posted top-10 finishes in the women’s 60m as Lewis came in fifth with a time of 7.69 while Little came in ninth at 7.77.
The women’s 4x400m relay team also picked up a fifth place finish as they teamed up to post a time of 3:53.90.
Sophomore Miles Greer was Western Carolina’s final top-five finisher as he placed fifth in the men’s 800m after stopping the clock at 1:55.50.
Juniors Thor Smith and Corey Ginley earned top-10 finishes in the men’s pole vault. Smith took sixth after clearing 4.70m while Ginley posted a height of 4.50m.
Senior Scott Peretin and sophomore Dakota Wright finished sixth and seventh in the men’s weight throw as Peretin tossed the weight 17.09m and Wright stopped the tape at 16.94m.
Senior Hailey Cook took seventh in the women’s weight throw with a mark of 13.88m while freshman Mahogani Holiday finished 10th with a toss of 13.04m. Holiday’s toss also ranks her second in the SoCon this season behind teammate Cook.
Cook also picked up a 10th place finish in the weight throw after posting a distance of 16.15m.
Sophomore Dasha Arnaut earned an eighth place finish in the women’s 200m as she stopped the clock in 25.35.
Junior Meghan Breden posted the third best performance in the women’s pole vault in the SoCon this season as she finished ninth after clearing 3.55m.
Sophomore Devyn Montel Jones and freshman Corey Alston finished ninth and 10th, respectively in the men’s 60m hurdles. Jones crossed the line in 8.44 while Alston came across in 8.46.
Junior Mateius Brown and senior Scott Peretin also finished ninth and 10th in the men’s shot put. Brown earned ninth with a mark of 14.96m while Peretin tossed the element 14.80m.
The final top-10 finisher was sophomore Jordan Bostian who took ninth in the men’s 3,000m. Bostian completed the distance in 8:48.15.
The Catamounts will now begin preparations for the Tiger Tuneup hosted by Clemson next weekend.