Complete Results |   

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - The Western Carolina men's and women's track & field teams made the most of their final tune-up before the 2015 Southern Conference Championships as they swept the titles of the 2015 Beynon Sports Surfaces Catamount Classic Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Hailey Cook was the highlight performance of the day as she broke an 18-year old school record in the women's shot put with a toss of 14.99m (49-02.25).

The men won the event by 166.50 points over second place ETSU. The Catamounts earned 263.50 points to top the 13-team field. The Catamount women topped second place Winthrop by 246 points as they earned 326 points overall to stay ahead of the 16-team field.

Western Carolina swept the top two spots in the women's 4x100m relay. WCU's "A" squad consisting of senior Xaviera Bass, junior Tayla Carter, senior Genevieve Emrick and sophomore Kayla Williams broke the meet record as well as setting a season best mark of 45.67. The Catamounts "B" squad came in at 47.69 and consisted of freshman Alyiah Riley, sophomore Alexis Robinson, sophomore Chenell Bryan, sophomore Tiffani Lewis.

The men also swept the top two spots in the 4x 100m relay. WCU's "A" squad sophomore Jermaine Lewis, senior Aaron Tribble, senior Demari Boswell and freshman Brenden Caldwell tied the season best mark of 40.92. The "B" team including sophomore Tremaie Kernes, sophomore Max Burke, freshman Dakota Lamont and freshman Kaleb McEntyre came across the finish line at 42.18

Freshman Laney Browder set a new season best of 4:51.95 in the women's 1,500m while placing seventh.

Bass, Williams, and Riley swept the top three spots in the women's 100m hurdles. Bass came across first at 13.94, next was Williams stopping the clock at 14.06 followed by Riley at 14.44. Senior Michaela Birek was also in the top eight finishing sixth at 14.76

Men's 110m hurdles saw senior's Abraham Faison and Marquis Bailey finish second and third with a season best 14.29 and 14.31, respectively.

Another meet record fell in the women's 400m as Emrick made the most of her senior day breaking her previous record of 54.31 which she set last season with an event winning and WCU season best time of 54.24 Saturday afternoon. Junior Corina Archie-McMillan took second after stopping the clock at 55.74. Robinson picked up an eighth place showing with a time of 59.67.

WCU picked up five top-eight finishes on the men's side in the 400m. Freshman Henry Kiedy took the top spot with a season best time of 47.68. Lamont came in second at 47.84 while Tribble (48.65), McEntyre (48.75) and Boswell (48.94) placed fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

In the field four Catamounts picked up points in the men's shot put. Junior Jared Johnson earned a third place finish with a season best toss of 15.25m (50-00.50). Sophomore Scott Peretin took fourth at 15.01m (49-03.00) while freshman Mateius Brown placed fifth with a mark of 13.97m (45-10.00). The final scorer for WCU was sophomore Evan Albertson who came in seventh after stopping the tape at 13.75m (45-01.50).

While the men were on the shot put the women took to the discus. Sophomore Hailey Cook and senior Alisha Bradshaw took the top two spots. Cook won the event with a mark of 44.81m (147-00) while Bradshaw finished just on her heels at 44.31m (145-04).

The women's 100m was up next and WCU once again dominated the top-eight with six scorers. Carter led the field with an 11.72 finish while K. Williams took second in 12.30. Rounding out the top three was Lewis who crossed the line in 12.46. Bryan came in fifth (12.50) followed by Riley in sixth (12.55). The final WCU scorer was Bass who took eighth after stopping the clock at 12.57.

The men placed three competitors in the top for in the 100m. Caldwell took the crown with a season best time of 10.53. Lewis and Kernes finished third and fourth, respectively. Lewis stopped the clock at 10.84 while Kernes came in just two hundredths of a second later at 10.86.

It was another win for the Catamounts in the very next event, the women's 800m. Senior Lena Elliott set a new season best at 2:09.91 in the victory.

The men took four of the top eight spots in the long jump. Junior David Johnson, junior Christian Carswell, Kernes and Caldwell finished third through sixth. Johnson tied a season best with a jump of 6.75m (22-01.75). Carswell was next at 6.61m (21-08.25) followed by Kernes (6.60m (21-08.00)) and Caldwell (6.53m (21-05.25)).

WCU's next scorers came in the women's 400m hurdles. Birek led a quartet of Catamounts in the the event as she won with a time of 1:00.73. Junior Holly Gaines came in third after stopping the clock at 1:02.68. Senior Anne Greer was the next Catamount to cross the line in sixth at 1:04.38 while sophomore Latasha Pride picked up a seventh place finish at 1:05.38.

The men also picked up some points in the 400m hurdles. Faison finished second with a time of 54.55. Junior Justin D'Angelo crossed the line next in third at 56.39 while Bailey picked up an eighth place finish at 57.73.

The women's pole vault produced four scorers for the Catamounts. Seniors Devyn Ressler and Cara June Elyea finished second and third, respectively. Ressler cleared 3.70m (12-01.50) while Elyea topped 3.60m (11-09.75). Junior Korie Bennett placed fifth overall with a height of 3.45m (11-03.75) while freshman Meghan Breden came in eighth at 3.15m (10-04.00).

The women continued to rack up points in the 200m. Carter picked up another win as she topped the field with a season best time of 23.60. Emrick came in second at 24.36 while Archie-McMillan crossed the line in fifth with a time of 24.98. The final WCU scorer was K. Williams with an eight place showing at 25.17.

The men would not be out-done as they also picked up four scorers in the 200m. Boswell led the group with a third place finish in season best fashion, 21.54. Lamont was WCU's next scorer in sixth with a time of 21.74. Junior Dante Ortado came along next at 21.76 while Kiedy finished eighth at 21.78.

Albertson took fourth in the men's discus with a toss of 43.76m (143-07) while Brown finished eight at 42.46m (139-04).

The women's shot put earned WCU 25 points. Cook took the top spot with a school record toss of 14.99m (49-02.25). The record was 18 years old and set by LaSha Jackson back in 1997. Bradshaw finished third at 13.53m (44-04.75) while junior Jasmin Brown came in fifth with a mark of 12.22m (40-01.25). Senior Kim Cannon (11.88m (38-11.75)) and freshman Alisha Blackmon (11.67m (38-03.50)) rounded out WCU's scorers in sixth and seventh, respectively.

Freshman Katarina Ruehl and redshirt junior Michelle Provost earned valuable points for the Catamounts in the 3,000m steeplechase. Ruehl finished third with a time of 12:16.10 while Provost came across fifth in 12:35.12.

Birek, Lewis and Bryan took third, fourth and fifth in the women's long jump. Birek stopped the tape at 5.54m (18-02.25) while Lewis came in at 5.52m (18-01.50) and Bryan made a leap of 5.50m (18-00.50).

WCU's women's 4x400m relay teams took first, sixth and eighth. Greer, Bryan, junior Michaela Williams and Birek won with a time of 3:51.89. Birek was able to run down the Winthrop team that finished second on the final leg to secure the victory. K. Williams, Elliott, Emrick and Bass teamed up to take sixth in 4:01.21 while Archie-McMillan, Pride, Robinson and sophomore Imani Stewart placed eighth in 4:03.81.

The men took third, fifth and seventh in the 4x400. Tribble, Faison, freshman Corey Ginley and junior Jamie Bigby came in third with a time of 3:23.58. Freshman Robbie Tompa, sophomore Kaleel Barton, McEntyre and Boswell placed fifth at 3:25.18 while Kiedy, Lewis, Bailey and Carswell came in seventh at 3:26.21.

The final field event of the day was the men's pole vault. Sophomore Dustin Triplett took second with a season best height of 4.80m (15-09.00). Ginley took third at 4.70m (15-05.00) while redshirt freshman Thor Smith placed fifth after clearing 4.50m (14-09.00). The final WCU scorer was Carswell who cleared 4.40m (14-05.25) to finished sixth.

Junior Kaitlyn Shetler was the lone Catamount to score in the women's 5,000m as she finished eighth overall in the final women's event of the evening. She posted a time of 18:51.44.

The men were able to earn two scoring spots in the final event. Sophomore JC Cornett won the 5,000m in 15:26.58 while redshirt sophomore Clay Howarth came in fourth at 15:49.32. The final scorer on the day was junior Michael Cornwell who came in sixth with a time of 15:58.65.

The Catamounts will return to action in two weeks as they travel to Birmingham, Ala. as they compete in 2015 Southern Conference Championship.