By Katherine Jamtgaard. COLUMBIA, S.C. – The App State men’s and women’s track and field team closed out competition at South Carolina’s Weems Baskin Relays with a new school record in the women’s long jump, eight event wins, and 26 top-five finishes.
“Having back-to-back weekends of amazing performances is something the athletes can be proud of,” said director of track & field/cross country Damion McLean. “There were a few lows, but we have to move on and fix it going into next week. A lot of people moved up on the conference rankings and we even had one person move up to the top of the NCAA and the world.”
Graduate Student Ashlee Osaji shattered the App State women’s long jump program record with a leap of 6.54m (21′ 5.5″). Osaji’s jump clinched the win and ranks her second in the nation at the close of the day. The previous school record of 6.22m (20′ 5.25″) was set in 1993 by Melissa Morrison-Howard, who went on to become a bronze medalist in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics.
Senior Chris Wainscott clinched first in the men’s shot put with a toss of 17.16m (56′ 3.75″), while fellow senior Nate Karl took fourth with a mark of 15.48 (50′ 9.5″). Karl went on to take sixth in the men’s discus with a personal best of 50.79m (166′ 7″), which raised him to sixth in the App State all-time list.
The 4×100-meter relay team of freshmen Nicole Wells and Sierra Smith, senior Taylor Smith, and freshman Kendall Johnson stopped the clock at 45.51 for the event win. Taylor Smith went on to round out the top-five in the women’s 200 meters with a time of 24.13. The Mountaineers also saw a first-place finish In the women’s open 1,500 meters, as graduate student Elizabeth Fuller led the pack, clocking a personal best of 4:46.81.
In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, sophomore Harrison Robinson secured silver with a personal-best of 13.93. His time launched him to third in the program all-time list. Robinson had advanced to the final after clocking a time of 14.51 to round out the top-five in the prelims.
In the men’s pole vault, freshman Matthew Gray recorded a clearance of 5.06m (16′ 7.25″) to finish second. Junior Matthew Bigelow and senior Patrick Freeman both cleared a height of 4.91m (16′ 1.25″), taking third and fourth, respectively.
In the men’s 400-meter hurdles, senior Jabari Dalton stopped the clock at 53.37 for a personal best and fourth-place finish, while freshman Davis Hunt clocked a personal best of 55.18 to finish seventh.
Graduate student Alexia Moehling recorded a pair of personal bests and seventh-place finishes in the women’s 100-meter hurdle prelims and women’s 400-meter hurdles. Moehling stopped the clock at 14.02 in the 100-meter hurdle prelims, which moved her to fifth in the App State all-time list. In the women’s 400-meter hurdles, she clocked a time of 1:03.05, which moved her to eighth in the program all-time list. Also posting seventh-place finishes were sophomore Parker Kinney, who posted a personal best of 47.96 in the men’s 400 meters, and senior Megan Plummer, who recorded a season best of 38.72m (127′ 0″) in the women’s discus.
Friday Rewind
Friday’s action saw the Mountaineers tally four event wins and 14 top-five finishes. In the men’s triple jump, senior Niejel Wilkins clinched first with a leap of 14.95m (49′ 0.75″). On the track, sophomore Addison Ollendick-Smith clocked a personal best of 2:12.87 to finish first in the women’s 800 meters. Her time moved her to eighth in the App State all-time list.
In the men’s 3,000 meters, graduate student Jonah Bird led the Mountaineers in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, clocking a season best of 9:28.96, while junior Steven Smith followed to secure second with a personal best of 9:35.32. Fellow junior Garrett Bivens led the Mountaineers in the men’s 5,000 meters, stopping the clock at 14:43.64 for a first-place finish. Following Bivens was graduate student Ethan Barber, who finished second with a personal-best of 14:51.71.
App State saw third-place finishes from junior Daiyanna Cooper and Wainscott in the women’s and men’s weight throw, respectively. Cooper recorded a toss of 52.12m (171′ 0″) in the women’s event, while Wainscott took third with a season best toss of 57.78m (189′ 6″) in the men’s. Freshman Jared Hiatt landed fourth with a personal best leap of 6.89m (22′ 7.25″) in the men’s long jump.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will venture to Raleigh, N.C. for NC State’s Raleigh Relays on March 28-30.
