LYNCHBURG, VA. -- The Western Carolina track and field teams saved their best finishes of the first day at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational for the final events as freshman Catamounts Peyton Skoglund and Lawson Mecom took the highest placements of the day in the open portion of the women's and men's 3K, respectively. 

 

Skoglund held a strong placement throughout the entirety of the single heat of her event, ultimately earning the sole top-five finish of the day for the Catamounts. Lawson Mecom led the second heat of the men's 3k open wire-to-wire, cruising to a 3-second victory in the heat. Mecom was one of only two freshmen to earn a sub 8:50 time in the event and finished sixth overall. 

 

Several other Catamounts clawed their way to strong finishes against the tough 37-team field. Fellow freshman Chase Thurber took a seventh-place finish in the open portion of the men's 800 meter with a time of 1:58.28. In addition, twin jumpers Javon Brown and Javell Brown continued their dominance, leaping to seventh and ninth-place finishes in the men's long jump invite. The Catamount duo represented two of only 10 athletes across both the invite and open portions of the event to earn marks further than 6.95 meters. They remain two of only three athletes in the Southern Conference to eclipse the 7.00-meter mark so far this season.

 

The Catamounts will return to action early Saturday morning with the women's high jump starting at 9:00 a.m.

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