Knoxville, Tenn. -- Led by strong performances on the men's side of the track, the Western Carolina Catamounts opened the Tennessee Invite with several top-ten placements against a stacked field of competition on Friday.  

The highest placement earned on the day belonged to Noah Straley who took a fourth-place finish in the men's long jump. His leap of 7.03 meters is a personal best in the outdoor event – and is only his second mark in the event during the outdoor season. Straley was one of only five student-athletes to clear the 7.00-meter mark in the event.  

While Straley claimed the sole top-five finish of the first day for the Catamounts, the men's throws squad pushed to strong event finishes of their own. All three Catamounts competing in the men's javelin throw earned top-ten marks as Jackson Livingston took sixth place in the event, followed by Dominick Dale and Colby Capps who finished ninth and 10th respectively. Dale's throw of 49.37m was nearly two full meters further than his previous personal best of 47.58m which he set last year.  

A pair of Catamount sprinters also earned top times on the day as Quinton Godfrey and David Miles took seventh and 10th place finishes in the men's 200-meter sprint. Godfrey's time of 21.87 seconds was one of only eight to break the 22.00-second mark. Miles was nearly the ninth athlete in the field to break the mark but finished just 5 hundredths of a second after.  

The Catamounts return to action tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. as the men's throws squad takes the circle for the hammer throw.

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