BIRMINGHAM, ALA. - Appalachian State University men's track and field concluded competition at the Samford Open in Birmingham, Ala. on Saturday. Ryan Hastings (Matthews, N.C. (Porter Ridge) came in first in the 800 meters and multiple Mountaineers turned in personal and season's bests.
The 200-meter race was the only running event App State competed in on Friday and William Buckley dashed a season's best of 21. 82 to land in ninth and Jordan Johnson ran a personal-best time of 22.12 to take 15th.
In addition to Friday's 200-meter sprint, three field event athletes competed, and two landed inside the top-three. Freshman high jumper Jordan Dale soared over the bar at 6-4.75 (1.95m) to place second, and Nathan Milch tossed out the weight 56-10 (17.32m) for third.
On Saturday, Antonio Marcano Jr. clocked a time of 6.97 in the 60-meter finals to finish tenth, and Elliott Graves and Brandon Smith finished second and third in the 60-meter hurdles running 8.13 (t-pr) and 8.23 respectively. For the half mile, Hastings snagged his third first-place victory in the event running a few milliseconds off his seasonal best and a second of his personal best at 1:52.68
In the longer distances, three Mountaineer milers turned in personal best times to land inside the top seven. Ian Foley and Evan Georges finished right behind each other for third and fourth respectively running 4:14.62 and 4:14.73, and Collin Loy clocked a time of 4:17.97 for seventh. In the 3,000 meters, Chris Anderson continues to dominate the event with a third-place finish running a nine second personal best of 8:21.33.
In the field events, both Tristian Shaver and Michael Utecht tied for second in the pole vault jumping 15-11 (4.85m). Their performance in Birmingham is the highest finish they have recorded in 2017. Lastly, Ellsworth Parham and Milch both gave top-five efforts in the shot put with Parham taking third with a toss of 55-1.50 (16.80m) and Milch throwing 53-7 (16.33m) to take fifth.
2/4 Buccaneer Track & Field Invitational Results
200m - 9. William Buckley, 21.82 (sb) ; 15. Jordan Johnson, 22.12 (pr) ; 25. Antonio Marcano Jr. (sb), 22.66; 42. Josh Hanna, 23.21
High Jump - 2. Jordan Dale, 6-4.75 (1.95m); 11. Nick Hinton, 6-0.75 (1.85m)
Weight Throw - 3. Nathan Milch, 56-10 (17.32m)
2/11 Samford Open Results
60m (prelims) - 9. Antonio Marcano Jr., 6.95q (t-pr); 12. William Buckley, 6.96; 15. Jordan Johnson, 6.98
60m (finals) - 10. Antonio Marcano Jr., 6.97
60H (prelims) - 4. Brandon Smith, 8.41q; 5. Elliott Graves, 8.44q; 9. Andrew Spear, 8.52
60H (finals) - 2. Elliott Graves, 8.13 (t-pr); 3. Brandon Smith, 8.23
400m - 17. Josh Hanna, 49.76; 36 (pr); Elliott Graves, 51.09; 39. Andrew Spear, 51.25
800m - 1. Ryan Hastings, 1:52.68; 12. Ian Foley, 1:58.93 (pr); 14. Sean Doyle, 1:59.21
Mile - 3. Ian Foley, 4:14.62 (pr); 4. Evan Georges, 4:14.73 (pr); 7. Collin Loy, 4:17.97 (pr); 17.Jacob Sears, 4:27.50
3,000m - 3. Chris Anderson, 8:21.33 (pr); 20. Andrew Vandenberg, 9:00.29 (sb)
4x400 - 9. 3:20.41
Pole Vault - T2. Tristian Shaver (sb) & Michael Utecht (pr), 15-11 (4.85m)
Long Jump - 11. Tylen Noel, 21-5.50 (6.54m)
Shot Put - 3. Ellsworth Parham, 55-1.50 (16.80m); 5. Nathan Milch 53-7 (16.33m)
Up Next
App State will host the Appalachian Split Meet at Holmes on Feb. 17 then head down to Birmingham, Ala. for the 2017 Sun Belt Indoor Track & Field Championships.
