WINSTON SALEM, N.C. - Anderson University Men's Track and Field traveled to the JDL Fast Track in Winston Salem, N.C. this weekend to compete in a two-day invitational at the Camel City Sprints (Friday) and Camel City Distance (Saturday).
The meet featured top Division I programs including Duke, Coastal Carolina, ETSU, UNC Chappel Hill, High Point University and Appalachian State. Fellow SAC opponent Wingate and regional opponents Flagler and Converse were also in attendance.
"I think overall not a bad weekend." said head coach Caleb Stephenson. "Had to fight a few sicknesses and the weather here lately. Had a lot of PRs but still working to get back to peak form in a few weeks for conference. Super proud of them though as always but we are always wanting more."
During the Camel City Sprints meet on Friday, The Trojans recorded five top 10 finishes. Senior
Lambdin Hardy (Commerce, Ga.) finished second in men's pole vault after clearing the 3.45m bar, followed by senior
Will O'Cain (Columbia, S.C.) clearing the 4.20m bar for a fifth-place finish and freshman Ryan Lee (Belton, S.C.) taking the 10th place spot, clearing the 4.20m bar in his first meet wearing Black and Gold. Junior jumper
Jordan Gross (Chester, Va.) finished 10th out of 38 in the field for a distance of 6.27m in the men's long jump.
On the track, sophomore Johnny McCoy (Easley, S.C.) found notched himself a new personal best finish in the 400m with a time of 51.96, crossing the line 21st out of 42 finishers. Sophomore
William Wright (Sumter, S.C.) also posted a 10th place finish in the 400m (50.31).
On Saturday at the Camel City Distance meet, the Trojans notched nine personal bests and two top 5 finishes for a successful day on the track. Senior
Joey Tindale (Rock Hill, N.C.) won the men's seeded 3k, crossing the line with a career best of 8:15.87. Also, in the men's seeded 3k was freshman
Grayson Gibbons (Simpsonville, S.C.) who finished 10th with a PR time of 8:29.18. Senior
Angel Galan (Santa Marta De Tormes, Spain) finished second out of 52 finishers in the unseeded 3k for a PR time of 8:20.60.
Freshman Jack Barett (Greenville, S.C.) and junior
Nathan Smith (Danielsville, Ga.) recorded personal bests in the 5k with times of 15:19.12 and 15:37.91 respectively. In the men's 800m, freshmen
Gavin Malloy (Harrisburg, N.C.) and
Harrison Knight (Greenville, S.C.) each posted a new personal best time, finishing in 1:53.91 and 1:54.92 respectively. Rounding out the incredible performances on the track is sophomore Will Cronin (Lexington, S.C.) and freshman
Nate Powell (Johnson City, Tenn.) with personal bests in the mile for times of 4:20.02 and 4:30.36 respectively.
In the field, freshman
Avery Butler (Seneca, S.C.) finished 20th out of 41 in the men's shot put with a throw measuring 13.43 for another personal best.
"I am very pleased with how both teams performed this weekend." said director of cross country track & field
Kevin Eagle. "They have not competed in two weeks and had a lot of adversity to deal with as far as weather goes during that time. To come out of the weekend with 20 personal bests and a school record, it really shows what they are capable of. We have three weeks to fine tune everything before the SAC Championships at the end of the month. It's a great day to be a Trojan!"
The Black and Gold will split up on Valentine's weekend when they travel to the Tyron Mid-Winter Invite in Mill Spring, N.C. and the GVSU Big Meet Friday/Big Meet Saturday. Each meet will take place on Friday, Feb. 13 and Saturday, Feb. 14.
