CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The Western Carolina track & field teams picked up four individual event wins on Friday on the opening day of the annual Catamount Classic.
In the men's pole vault which kicked off the meet,
Jonathan Lehe won in a jump-off with a new personal best height of 4.46 meters.
Javon Brown led a WCU podium sweep in the long jump with a winning mark of 7.20 meters (23'7.5").
Javell Brown was second, also with a leap of 7.20 meters but was the runner-up due to needing more attempts.
Tyler Rodriguez finished in third place with a top mark of 7.03 meters (23'0.75").
Jackson Livingston won the men's javelin with a throw of 52.37 meters.
Dominick Dale finished sixth thanks to his mark of 46.34 meters with
Kaleb Ambrose grabbing 10
th at 42.23 meters.
In the men's 200-meter dash,
Michael Harris was the runner-up with a new personal best time of 21.73.
Teddy Ayden finished fourth in a new personal best of 21.80 followed by
David Miles in sixth at 21.89.
John Davis finished in fourth place in the men's 1,500-meter run with a personal best time of 3:52.72. Davis' time is the second-fastest in program history, trailing only Ben Bailey's school record of 3:47.62 set in 1972.
Will Mitchell ran a personal best 15:08.36 to finish in fifth place in the men's 5,000-meter run.
Kate Mattison won the women's 1,500-meter run in a new personal best time of 4:32.66. Mattison's time narrowly missed the school record of 4:32.34 held by Kaitlyn Lingard. Also in the event,
Landey Green finished sixth in 4:51.10 followed by
Sydney Runyan in ninth at 4:54.33.
Nytrinitey Jenkins led four WCU sprinters in the women's 200-meter dash as she finished in third place with a time of 24.92.
Brianna Gayle placed fifth (25.16), followed by
Mekyll Robinson in sixth (25.24), and
Mikayla Turner in eighth (25.38).
Jennifer Wagner finished in third place in the women's pole vault with a new personal best height of 3.31 meters (10'10.25").
Sydney Gallant was fourth after topping out at 3.16 meters (10'4.25").
Alyssa Cooley placed sixth after she cleared a height of 2.86 meters (9'4.5").
Riley McKinney led a 4-5-6 WCU finish in the women's 5,000-meter run with a third-place result. McKinney finished with a time of 19:09.08.
Sara Klemm finished fifth with a time of 19:09.41.
Madelynn Duffield was sixth at 19:31.89.
Several WCU student-athletes advanced through preliminary events to qualify for Saturday finals. Gayle qualified for the women's 100-meter dash finals with a time of 12.24. Miles and Ayden advanced to the men's 100-meter dash finals with times of 10.68 and 10.77, respectively. A trio of Catamounts qualified for the women's 100-meter hurdles finals, led by
Imani Boyd with a time of 14.29.
Dami Shodeinde advanced to Saturday's final after finishing the race in 14.30, followed by
Shaneil Lysight at 14.81.
The Catamount Classic continues on Saturday as eight WCU senior student-athletes will be honored beginning at 11:30 a.m. A busy day of field events starts at Noon with the men's shot put, women's discus, women's high jump, and men's triple jump. Track events start at 12:10 p.m. with the women's 4x100-meter relay.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount track & field and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports) and Twitter (@catamounts, @catamountxctf).
