LYNCHBURG, VA – While day one of the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational belonged to Western Carolina track & field's distance runners late in the night, the second day was headlined by the Catamount sprinters as the group claimed four top-ten finishes to close out the final regular-season meet of the 2023-24 schedule.
David Miles and Quinton Godfrey in particular led the Catamounts as the pair finished third and fourth, respectively, in the men's 300 meter. Godfrey's time of 34.48 puts the freshman in rarified air as he now sits fourth on the school's all-time performance list in the event, only behind Michael Harris, the aforementioned Miles, and the school record-holder Devaniel Dale. Miles took a podium placement in the event with a time of 34.41, just a fraction off of his personal best set in 2021. In addition, Elias Barton took a ninth-place finish in the event thanks to a time of 35.13s, which was his first collegiate mark in the 300-meter dash.
The fourth top-ten finish from the sprints group came on the women's side from Nytrinity Jenkins, who earned her top solo finish of the day in the open portion of the women's 200-meter. Her season-best time of 25.03 in the event secured an eighth-place finish for the Catamounts and was one of two top-ten finishes of the day for the senior.
Godfrey wasn't the only one rewriting the Catamount performance lists on Saturday as Sydney Lowe, Amaya Hicks, John Davis, and Javon Brown all either put their names in Catamount history for the first time or shifted positions in the record book. Runyan and Hicks now own the third and fifth position in the women's 1000-meter run, while John Davis moved to third in the same event on the men's side.
Javon Brown joins his brother Javell Brown in the men's triple jump performance list after a tremendous leap of 15.36m in the event secured a first-place finish for the Catamounts. While Javon earned the top spot in the event, Javell also took home a top-five finish in the event, finishing fourth with a mark of 14.97m.
In the circle, freshman Austin Ramirez shined in the open portion of the men's shot put. The young thrower earned a third-place finish in the event thanks to a toss of 13.77m on his first attempt of the day. His podium placement on the day is his best event finish this season.
Also of note, the Catamounts found themselves at odds with each other in the men's portion of the 4x400m, as both teams competing in the event were side by side in the third heat of the relay. The team consisting of Teddy Ayden, David Miles, Elias Barton, and Henry Stecher emerged victorious in the Catamount clash, taking a sixth-place finish in the event overall.
Not to be left out, the women's 4x400m team of Nytrinity Jenkins, Cymoria Thomas, Leah Butler, and Kyndal Saunders took a seventh-place finish with late kicks by Saunders and Butler just pushing WCU past SoCon foe ETSU in the heat.
The Catamounts return to Cullowhee with 14 top-ten finishes at the event with six coming in the top five and Javon Brown securing the sole event win of the meet for WCU.
Western Carolina has a week off to rest and recover before returning to Virginia for the 2024 Southern Conference Indoor Championships scheduled to run from February 24-25, back in Lexington, Va., at the VMI Corps Physical Training Facility.
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