Gray breaks own school record in Pole Vault, App State women dominate in sprints, middle distances

By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — While Friday’s Day 1 of the App State Open track and field meet at the new Randy Marion facility was greeted by blustery, mostly wet weather, Saturday’s Day 2 saw clear, sunny skies with an occasional wind gust.

Twenty-two teams sent athletes to compete in the various men’s and women’s events, as well as several “unattached” athletes in every discipline.

Team competing included Appalachian State, Winthrop, Bob Jones, Virginia Tech, Tennessee, Presbyterian, Montreat, Gardner-Webb, Spartanburg Methodist, GW Express, Livingstone, UNC Running Club, Western Carolina, Mars Hill, Anderson (S.C.), Cleveland CC, Carson Newman, Newberry, Higher Power Athletic Club, Fayetteville State, Radford, Dynamic Speed Elite, KMR Athletics and several unattached competitors.

MEN’S HIGHLIGHTS

• 100 Meters — App State freshman Armonte Ferguson was No. 1, recording a 10.66, but Winthrop showed a lot of team strength by placing five among the top seven finalists, including 2-3-4-6-7.
• 200 Meters — GW Express senior Phillip Marcelle (20.68) edged out App State’s Ferguson (21.44), followed by a pair of Winthrop sprinters in Toluwayan Agbeyomi and Kevin Brown at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively.
• 400 Meters — Mountaineer sophomore Parker Kinney broke the tape first (47.89), followed by App State senior Cole Krehnbrink (48.21). Kailen Perry of GW Express was No. 3 (48.54).
• 800 Meters — Unattached Ryan Hastings (1:54.58) finished less than a half-second ahead of Gardner-Webb’s Nathan Cremin (1:54.90). App State sophomore Ethan Lipham was No. 3 (1:55.7) out of the 33 entrants in the event. Hastings is now a graduate assistant women’s cross country coach for App State, where he still holds the school record in the 800 Meters (1:48.02).
• 1-Mile Invitational — The University of Tennessee placed five of the top seven athletes in the featured event, headed by Christopher Cherry (4:02.26) and Canaan Anderson (4:03.16) going 1-2. App State’s Ethan Lipham was No. 3 (4:03.91) and Elliot Dotson of Anderson (S.C.) at No. 4 (4:04.74), with 24 athletes entered in the race.
• 1-Mile Open — A pair of Virginia Tech athletes went 1-2 in the event, including Andrew Bennett and Samik Bhinge, in 4:28.40 and 4:36.34, respectively. A total of 18 athletes competed.
• 5000 Meters — App State showed well in the event, with Tucker Sangster taking No. 1, Jackson Nichols at No. 3, and Griffin Horner at No. 5. Montreat’s Caleb Wright was No. 2 and Virginia Tech’s Aaron Getty crossed the line in the No. 4 position.
• 10,000 Meters — Virginia Tech’s Harris Naseh captured the distance at No. 1 (32:56.05), followed by a pair of Bob Jones University runners, Evan Seaman and Marc Johnson.
• 110 Hurdles — App State sophomore Harrison Robinson was the only Mountaineer entry in the event but his 13.99 seconds time was good enough for No. 1, ahead of Gardner Webb’s T J Peebles and Livingstone’s Jayden Mungo at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Robinson was the only competitor under 14 seconds.
• 400 Hurdles — Nate Bruno of GW Express was No. 1, crossing the finish line in 52.45 seconds, a second ahead of Jabari Dalton of App State, the No. 2 finisher. Watauga High School alum Davis Hunt, now competing for App State, was No. 4 (54.40).
• 3000 Steeplechase Invitational — Only four athletes qualified for the invitational event and Tennessee freshmen took the top two spots, including Brody Chapman (9:05.71) and Simon Schabort (9:32.62). App State’s Ben Datte (9:43.97) was No. 3.
• 3000 Steeplechase Open — Noah Woodbury, a Winthrop senior, took the top spot with a time of 10:09.08, followed by Virginia Tech’s Christian Crawley in 10:36.09.
• 4×100 Relay — Winthrop A won the race in 41.06 with the quartet of Toluwayan Agbeyomi, Kevin Brown, Ian Gresham, and Michael Boucher. They were followed by No. 2 Livingstone, Winthrop B, and Virginia Tech.
• 4×400 Relay — The App State A quartet of Parker Kinney, Jabari Dalton, Davis Hunt and Cole Krehnbrink took No. 1 (3:16.21), more than a half-minute ahead of No. 2 Bob Jones.
• High Jump — Carson-Newman junior Oluwafemi Richards and freshman teammate Verrol Sam finished 1-2 in the High Jump, both clearing heights of 6’10.75″.  App State freshman Jared Hiatt was No. 3 (6’4.75″).
• Pole Vault — An emerging star performer, App State freshman Matthew Gray broke his own, week-old school record with a vault of 17’6.25″. Mountaineer juniors Patrick Freeman and Matthew Bigelow were No. 2 and No. 3, both clearing 16’4.5″.
• Long Jump — App State and Winthrop split the top six places, with Mountaineer freshman Jared Hiatt scoring No. 1 (23’10.25″) and senior teammate Niejel Wilkins No. 3 (22’9″). Winthrop went 2-4-5.
• Triple Jump — App State’s Niejel Wilkins (51’11.25″) and Caleb Lopez (43’11.75″) served as No. 1 and No. 3 bookends to Livingstone’s Luis Azar-Moise (46’7.25″).
• Shot Put — Unattached Daniel McArthur had a heave of 61’6.25″ to take the No. 1 spot, with App State’s Christopher Wainscott No. 2 (58’0.5″). Twenty-seven athletes competed in the event.
• Discus — Quentin Peterson, a Gardner-Webb sophomore, got the best of a 29-man field with a throw of 181’7″. Wainscott was No. 2 at 166’6″ and Newberry’s Kegan Crowell as No. 3 (161’3″).
• Hammer Throw — Wainscott finished No. 1, his 192’2″ more than 20 feet further than No. 2, Kegan Crowell of Newberry (171’7″). Newberry’s Parker Pitts was No. 3 (161’9″).
• Javelin — A pair of unattached athletes, Troy Cocco (213’10”) and Luke Thierfelder (192’7″) went 1-2 in the event, with Newberry’s Sean Price at No. 3 (171’9″).

WOMEN’S HIGHLIGHTS

• 100 Meters — App State captured the top four places, led by senior Taylor Smith (11.53) at No. 1, followed by a pair of freshmen in Kendall Johnson at No. 2 (11.61) and Nicole Wells (11.70). Junior Mariah McCord was close behind at No. 4 (11.91).
• 200 Meters — The Mountaineers were even stronger in the longer sprint distance, taking the top five spots. Freshman Jayla Adams was No. 1 (23.94), Sierra Smith No. 2 (23.95), and Nicole Wells at No. 3 (24.33).
• 400 Meters — Again showing strength in the longest “sprint” race, App State went 1-2-3-4, led by Jayla Adams at No. 1 (55.87), Daye Talley No. 2 (56.71) and Addison Ollendick-Smith No. 3 (56.95).
• 800 Meters — Shifting to the middle distance runs, the Mountaineers went 1-2 with senior Jasmine Donohue (2:14.40) and Rhys Ammon (2:16.62). Fayettevillle State took the next five spots.
• MJ Harrelson 1-Mile Invitational — Tennessee freshman Jessie Secor won the event in 4:49.52, followed by App State senior Jasmine Donohue (No. 2) and then two more Tennessee athletes at No. 3 and No. 4.
• 1-Mile Open — The winning time of the Open event was more than 41 seconds slower than the Harrelson Invitational, with Fayetteville State’s Daisy Jerop stopping the clock at 5:25.94.
• 5000 Meters — Tennessee came loaded in the event and the Volunteers took the top four spots, including a trio of freshmen, Jaci Sievers, Lauren Rutlin and Summer Schuster going 1-2-3, respectively.
• 10,000 Meters — With ZAP Endurance professional Anne Marie Tuxbury serving as the “rabbit” and setting the pace for the first half of the race, Radford senior Chloe Wellings stole the show, finishing more than five minutes ahead of Montreat freshman Carlyn Bobo in No. 2 and six minutes ahead of Bob Jones senior Liesl Heinz at No. 3.
• 100 Hurdles — The host Mountaineers only had one athlete entered but senior Alexa Moehling was the only one of the eight finalists to finish under 14 seconds (13.95). Radford sophomore Jaslyne Robinson was No. 2 and Fayetteville State freshman Makeshria Brown was No. 3.
• 400 Hurdles — Moehling became a double winner for the Mountaineers, with Radford’s Robinson the runner-up again. Sophia Outhous of Spartanburg Methodist finished in the No. 3 spot.
• 3000 Steeplechase — An unattached App State athlete, Emma Russum, sparkled in the event, finishing in 11:07.06, well ahead of No. 2, Sophie Magson of Radford (11:31.66) and Radford’s Kate McLearen as No. 3 (11:32.26). App State senior Claire Mason and junior Morgan Kornke were No. 4 and No. 6, respectively.
• 4×100 Relay — The App State A quartet of Kendall Johnson, Sierra Smith, Taylor Smith and Jayla Adams took top honors (44.85), followed by the App State B team of Nicole Wells, Daye Talley, Khalilah Razzak, and Mariah McCord at No. 2.
• 4×400 Relay — App State A (Alexia Moehling, Daye Talley, Hunter Robinson, and Addison Ollendick-Smith) won the event in 3:52.13, a little more than four seconds ahead of Radford A in No. 2.
• High Jump — Unattached Alyiah Eugene finished No. 1 (5’9.75″), with App State’s Nadiyah Byard No. 2 (5’5″).
• Pole Vault — App State took four of the top five places in the event, but Alina McDonald of KMR Athletics was clearly the class of the field, her 14’9″ vault just shy of two feet better than No. 2, App State’s Ava Studney (13’0.25″). The Mountaineers’ Noelle Meeker was No. 3, Celia Agee No. 4, and Carolina Fowlkes No. 5.
• Long Jump — With the No. 2 and No. 3 finishers in Kadidja Sangare and Savannah Goodwin, Carson-Newman had a strong showing but was not as good as App State’s Taylor Smith (20’9″) among the 25 athletes competing.
• Triple Jump — App State alum Jada Branch, competing unattached, won the event with a 40’10.25″ effort. Gardner Webb’s Teandra Clemons was No. 2 (37’2.5″) and Livingstone’s Nariah Furr was No. 3 (35’8.5″).
• Shot Put — Winthrop sophomore Johntavia Shaw finished No. 1 with a heave of 43’10.5″, with Newberry sophomore Leonie Samuels going 43’5.75″ to take the No. 2 spot.
• Discus — Winthrop’s Shaw was a double winner in taking both the Shot Put and Discus. She was followed by Fayetteville State’s Ashley Taylor at No. 2 and Gardner-Webb’s Karmen Taylor at No. 3.
• Hammer Throw — App State junior Daiyanna Cooper beat a large field of 19 throwers, with a throw of 170’11”. Gardner-Webb’s Karmen Taylor and Madison Boyd finished No. 2 and No. 3.
• Javelin — There were only two competitors in the Day 1 event, with Winthrop freshman Brianna Breau securing No. 1 with a throw of 109’10” and Newberry freshman Kiori Butler going 99’6″ to take No. 2 honors.