Lexington, Va. – Behind a strong performance in the sprint events, the Western Carolina men's track team defended their title as they won the VMI Team Challenge for the second straight year on Saturday at the Corps Physical Training Center. The Catamount women's team came home in second place.
The WCU men's team scored 127 points, ahead of second-place Appalachian State with 113. Appalachian State tallied 121.5 points for the women's crown as WCU's women finished with 105 points. The WCU men's and women's teams combined for four individual victories and one relay win.
Devaniel Dale led a 1-2-3-4 WCU finish in the men's 400-meter dash with a winning time of 48.47 seconds.
Chace Washington-Saunders was the runner-up with a time of 48.63 followed by
Michael Harris (49.19) and
Jevon Leonard (49.82). The quartet scored 29 points for the Catamounts in the team standings as WCU had trailed for the entire meet before moving into a tie with Appalachian State following the 400m event.
Dale, Harris, Leonard, and Washington-Saunders combined to win the 4x400-meter relay with a winning time of 3:17.03. Saturday marked the second straight relay win for the quartet as they also took the win in the 4x400-meter relay at the ETSU Invitational on Jan. 11.
Charles Cooley won the men's pole vault after he cleared a personal-best height of 4.65 meters.
Dale was the runner-up in the men's 200-meter dash, finishing with a time of 21.57 seconds.
Tyler Hanks was the runner-up in the men's triple jump with a top distance of 14.20 meters.
Benjamin Okafor also scored with a third-place finish with a leap of 14.13 meters. Hanks finished third in the men's long jump with a leap of 6.98 meters.
Brandon Harvey placed fourth in the event with his mark of 6.92 meters closely followed by Okafor with a mark of 6.91 meters.
Other top five finished on the men's side included:
Mac Bennett, third in men's shot put with a throw that measured 14.50 meters and Cory Alston, fifth in the men's 60-meter dash final in 7.02 seconds.
Makaila McIntyre won the women's long jump with a leap of 5.94 meters. McIntyre also placed fourth in the women's 60-meter dash with a time of 7.74 seconds.
Carter Unger claimed the women's pole vault in a jump off over Appalachian State's Celia Agee. Both Unger and Agee cleared 3.65 meters in the same number of attempts, but Unger used few attempts at a lower height.
Amy Yarborough was the runner-up in the women's shot put with a top distance of 13.71 meters. Yarbrough's throw is a personal best.
Rachel Rouse finished fourth in the event thanks to her throw that measured 13.43 meters.
Lindsey Trotter posted a second-place finish in the women's 3,000-meter run. Trotter completed the race in 10:29.59.
Kellsie Whitehead and
Marissa Blakely finished fourth and fifth, respectively in the women's 400-meter dash. Whitehead finished the race with a time of 57.69 while Blakely checked in with a time of 58.52. The women's 4x400-meter relay team of
Mekyll Robinson, Whitehead, Blakely and
Tatiana Mills finished in fourth place with a time of 3:58.06.
Robinson placed fifth in the women's 200-meter dash thanks to her time of 25.32.
Western Carolina is off next weekend before traveling to Columbia, S.C. for the South Carolina Invitational on Feb. 7-8.
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