Lynchburg, Va. – Western Carolina track & field battled for several strong finishes across the track on Friday as the first day of competition at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational wrapped up at the Brant Tolsma Indoor Track at Liberty University's Indoor Track Complex.

CJ McFerrin won the day for the Catamounts as the speedster had elite finishes in both the preliminary and semifinal rounds of the men's 60-meter hurdles. McFerrin secured a semifinal spot with a strong finish of 8.05 in the preliminaries, but saved his best performance for last as he blazed by the competition with a clocking in at 7.97 to take third in the semifinals and lock-in a spot in Saturday's final round at 12:30 p.m. 

Outside of McFerrin, Leah Butler claimed the highest finish of the day for the Catamounts, taking seventh in the women's 400m dash. The sophomore was one of only seven athletes to post a sub-57.60s finish in the event, setting a new personal record with a sprint of 57.58. 

John Davis posted another top 10 finish for the Catamounts, placing ninth in the men's 800-meter run. He tripped the tape at the 1:53.32 mark in the event, a season-best for the senior. Davis finished just 0.14 ahead of Charlotte's Bryce Anderson and 0.23s ahead of Liberty's Brendan Pitcher, who was in the second heat with Davis. 

The Catamounts are back in action on Saturday morning with a full day of events beginning with the women's high jump at 8:30 a.m.