Columbia, S.C. – Senior
Makaila McIntyre set a new personal best with a victory in the women's long jump invite as the Western Carolina indoor track and field team wrapped up the South Carolina Invitational Saturday at the Carolina Indoor Track and Field Complex.
"I'm pretty excited about the results from this weekend," said head coach
Jesse Norman. "I felt we did a great job competing and supporting each other which led to some standout performances or breakthroughs this weekend. This weekend sets us up nicely for the next weekend (VMI Invitational) and the Southern Conference championships."
McIntyre won the long jump invite with a personal-best mark of 5.96 meters (19'6.75"). McIntyre's previous personal best mark was 5.94 meters set at the VMI Team Challenge on Jan. 25.
Lindsey Trotter and
Jamie Blaylock finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively in the women's 5,000-meter run. Trotter completed the race with a time of 17:55.83 while Blaylock crossed the finish line in 18:12.93. Both Trotter and Blaylock finished with new personal bests.
The men's 4x400-meter relay team of
Michael Harris,
Chace Washington-Saunders,
Jevon Leonard and
Devaniel Dale finished in second place with a season-best time of 3:11.70. The quartet just missed the school record of 3:11.28 set in 2001 by Derrick High, Tim Vaught, Akaba Glaspie, and Bola Oyegumywa.
Dakota Oxendine tied for third place in the men's high jump invite, clearing a height of 2.03 meters (6'8").
Benjamin Okafor led three Catamounts in the top 10 of the men's long jump invite, finishing in fourth place with a distance of 7.02 meters (23'00.50").
Shon Pratcher scored a sixth-place finish thanks to his leap of 6.94 meters (22'9.25"), just ahead of
Tyler Hanks in seventh at 6.92 meters (22'8.5").
Charles Cooley tied for ninth place in the men's pole vault invite after topping out at 4.60 meters (15'1").
WCU is back in action next weekend, traveling to Lexington, Va. for the VMI Indoor Classic next Friday and Saturday.
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