BOONE, N.C. - The App State women's track and field team is set to open the indoor season this Friday and Saturday as they host the John Weaver Invitational at the Holmes Convocation Center.
Friday's action will start at 5 p.m., featuring the men's and women's weight throw and triple jump events. Action on Saturday will start at 10 a.m. with the women's pole vault, women's high jump, men's long jump and men's shot put. Events on the track are set for an 11 a.m. start with the women's 55-meter hurdle prelims.
Joining the App State women's squad in competition will be Winthrop, UNC Asheville, Lenoir Rhyne, Montreat, Western Carolina, Lees-McRae, Wofford, Gardner-Webb, Milligan, Livingstone, and Columbia International University.
Last Season | Indoor Competition
The Black and Gold appeared in five regular season meets last winter, opening competition at the App State Invite in December. The Mountaineers' season went into full swing on Jan. 14-15, as they clinched first in the team standings at the ETSU Track and Field Invitational. App State earned another first-place team finish on Feb. 11-12 at the Marshall Invitational.
Six Mountaineers earned All-Sun Belt honors after their performances at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships (Feb. 21-22). Peighton Simmons won the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 13.12m (43' 7") to earn First Team All-SBC accolades. Simmons also placed second in the long jump with a PR of 6.17m (20' 0.25"). The High Point, N.C. native's leaps landed her second in the App State all-time list for triple jump category and third in the long jump.
Jada Branch,
Jasmine Donohue,
Karsyn Kane, Arabian Lilly, and
Alexis Svoboda earned Third Team All-Sun Belt recognition. Branch earned bronze in the triple jump with a mark of 12.69m (41' 7.75"), while the distance medley relay team of Donohue, Kane, Lilly, and Svoboda took third with a time of 11:59.98. In the team standings, App State placed sixth overall with 49 points.
Branch and
Taylor Smith rounded out indoor competition at the USATF Indoor Championships in Spokane, Wash. on Feb. 26-27. Branch competed in the women's triple jump, recording a mark of 12.33m (40' 5.5"), while Smith posted a leap of 5.59m (18' 4.25") in the women's long jump. The pair were joined by men's track and field members De'Shawn Ballard, Eric Haddock Jr., and Cole Krehnbrink. Haddock and Ballard posted marks of 7.01m (23' 0") and 6.83m (22' 5"), respectively, in the men's long jump. Krehnbrink stopped the clock at 49.57 in the men's 400 meters.
