JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Symphony Buxton made it back-to-back wins in the women’s weight throw as her mark of 17.97 meters topped the field of 39 competitors during Friday’s Buccaneer Invitational inside the Ballad Health Athletic Center. Buxton also captured gold in the weight throw in last month’s season opener at the ETSU Invitational.
Joining Buxton with a first-place performance was the Buccaneer women’s DMR squad who topped the competition by over 10 seconds with a time of 12:40.24.
PODIUM FINISHES
First Place – Symphony Buxton (Weight Throw); Women’s DMR (Shila Kapaya, Jessica Lord, Rebekah Howard, Makayla Shaw)
TRACK HIGHLIGHTS
The women’s DMR group of Shila Kapaya, Jessica Lord, Rebekah Howard and Makalya Shaw brought home gold as they blitzed the field by more than 10 seconds, totaling a time of 12:40.24. This marked the first women’s DMR title by an ETSU team since capturing the crown at the 2020 Buccaneer Invitational.
Lindsay Cooper and Ant’wonike Jennings both won their heat in the women’s 60-meter hurdles to advance into Saturday’s final. Cooper turned in the fastest time in the prelims, clocking in at 8.91, while Jennings had the seventh-fastest mark at 9.57. The Buccaneer duo will run in the final Saturday at 2 p.m.
Cooper also qualified for the final in the 400-meter run as she posted the fifth-fastest mark in the prelims at 59.81. Hannah Burkhart also ran in the prelims, where she clocked the second-best mark of the afternoon (58.99), but will not run in Saturday’s final. The women’s 400m final is set for Saturday at 3:15 p.m.
In the women’s 60-meter dash, the Blue and Gold had four sprinters qualify for Saturday’s final. Mekayla Brown, Nicole Johnson, LaNaya Martin and Ja’Ciya Guthrie will all go for gold Saturday. Brown (7.74) and Martin (7.759) both won their heats, while Johnson turned in the fourth-fastest time in the semis (7.753) and Guthrie – making her ETSU debut – had the seventh-fastest mark (7.82).
FIELD HIGHLIGHTS
For the second straight meet, Buxton came away with a gold-medal performance in the weight throw, where her toss of 17.97m was over six feet better than the second-place finisher. Buxton, who took home Field Athlete of the Meet following last month’s ETSU Invitational and was named SoCon Field Athlete of the Week, is scheduled to compete in Saturday’s shot put at 2 p.m.
In the women’s pole vault, Ansley Archuleta tied a personal best with a mark of 3.00 meters on her third attempt.
Zach Fejeran set a personal best in the weight throw for the second straight meet, as he placed eighth overall with a toss of 14.90m. Fejeran’s previous PR was set last month at the ETSU Invitational with a heave of 14.77m.
Brown just missed a podium spot in the long jump where she leapt to a fourth-placing showing with a mark of 5.60m.
The final day of the Buccaneer Invitational gets underway Saturday at 9 a.m. with the women’s 3,000-meter run.