Clemson, S.C. – The Western Carolina track and field teams have the first meet of the 2024-25 indoor season under its belt after a successful appearance at the Clemson Opener on Friday at the Clemson Track & Field Complex.

Damon Worley earned the top placement of the day for the Catamounts, taking fourth in the men's pole vault competition. He cleared 4.27-meters tallying a personal best in the indoor event and his best attempt since posting a 4.40-meter clear at the Southern Conference Outdoor Championships last season.

Worley was joined in WCU's top five finishes by transfer thrower Ericka Jackson who took fifth in the women's shot put thanks to a toss of 12.76-meter. She was one of only six student-athletes in the shot put to post a throw better than 12.0 meters. Fellow newcomer Lexie Durban also posted a Top 10 finish in the shot put for the Catamounts, taking seventh with an 11.93-meter mark. Additionally, Toria Roundtree claimed eighth in the women's weight throw with a tremendous 14.65-meter toss on her first attempt of the day.  

The Catamount men's throws squad showed out as well with Austin Ramirez earning sixth place in the men's weight throw but shattered a personal best in the process. His mark of 16.03-meters was a full 1.11 meters further than his previous best mark of 14.92m set during the 2024 SoCon Indoor Championships. Dominick Dale claimed 10th in the weight throw with a 14.48-meters, only his second career toss over 14.00m and a little over a half a meter shy of his personal best attempt of 15.02m, also set at the SoCon Indoor Championships.  

Rounding out the strong thrower's performance of the day was Jacob Thomas, who took 10th in the men's shot put with a personal best indoor mark of 13.89 meters, his best attempt indoors since a 12.76m throw in 2023. 

The WCU jumpers were led by freshman Octavia Massena who claimed a seventh-place finish in the women's triple jump after an 11.72-meter leap on her sixth and final attempt of the day. Massena was one of only four freshmen to earn a Top 10 finish in the event, joining South Carolina's Cameran Gist, Adaora Tagbo of Georgia Tech, and Florida A&M's Jade-Ann Smith. Fellow freshman Kwan Oates earned the top finish for the Catamounts in the men's triple jump after a 14.06-meter attempt.  

On the track, three of WCU's top event finishes earned personal bests on the day. Cymoria Thomas and Leah Butler posted PRs in the women's 60-meter dash and 600-meter run, respectively, while Skyler Woodard shaved .02 seconds off his previous best time in the men's 200-meter dash. 
 

Top Catamount Finishers: 

Italics – Freshman/newcomer | Bold – Personal Best