BOONE, N.C. - The App State men's and women's track & field team is set to open the outdoor season on Saturday at the Lenoir-Rhyne Open in Hickory, N.C. Field events will start at 10 a.m. with running events starting at 11:30 a.m. The meet will operate on a rolling schedule.
The women's squad will open the outdoor season after capping the indoor season with an eighth-place team finish with 45 points at the Sun Belt Indoor Championships on Feb. 19-20. At the conference meet, the women's distance medley relay (DMR) team of freshmen
Rhys Ammon and
Nicole Wells, sophomore
Addison Ollendick-Smith, and senior
Jasmine Donohue placed second with a time of 11:47.73. Graduate student
Ashlee Osaji also registered a podium finish, placing third in the women's triple jump with a leap of 12.43m (40' 9.5"). Including the pair of podium finishes, the Mountaineers totaled seven top-five finishes at the indoor conference meet. Thirty-two returners and 13 newcomers make up the 2023-24 women's squad.
The men's squad welcomes back 33 Mountaineers in addition to eight newcomers. Senior
Cole Krehnbrink, and sophomores
Christian Gore and
Harrison Robinson make their returns in the sprints category. Krehnbrink ranks sixth in the men's 400 meters, Gore ranks seventh in the men's 400-meter hurdles, and Robinson ranks 10th in the men's 110-meter hurdles in the program all-time list. App State's top distance returners are senior
Dwayne Lillie, graduate student
Oliver Wilson-Cook, and senior
Calbert Guest, who hold spots in the Men's 5,000 meters, men's 10,000 meters, and men's 3,000-meter steeplechase program top-10, respectively. Senior
Chris Wainscott, who stands in the program top-10 in the men's hammer throw, men's discus, and men's shot put returns alongside fellow senior thrower
Nathan Karl, who ranks seventh in both the men's shot put and men's discus. Senior
Niejel Wilkins, who broke into the men's triple jump top-10 will be back this season. Graduate student
Patrick Freeman, seniors
Taylor Fox and
Braden Underwood, and junior
Matthew Bigelow, all make their return in the pole vault category.
Last Season | Outdoor Competition
The 2023 outdoor season saw the first Mountaineer since 2005 to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championship as
Jada Branch finished 20th in the women's triple jump with a leap of 12.97m (42' 6.75"). Branch went on to compete in the women's triple jump at the 2023 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships, where incoming freshman
Matthew Gray made his debut in the Black and Gold in the USATF U20 men's pole vault.
Four Mountaineers qualified for the NCAA East Prelims. Branch and Wilkins competed in the women's and men's triple jumps, while Wainscott and Guest made their first appearances at the preliminary meet, competing in the men's shot put and men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, respectively.
At the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships, the Mountaineers finished fifth in the men's team standings with 75 points, while the women finished 10th in the team standings with 28 points. Five Mountaineers collected All-SBC honors and the Black and Gold tallied 12 top-five finishes. Guest led the pack in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:54.06 to garner gold.
Jonah Morris and
Mariah Atwater secured silver with second-place finishes in the men's 1,500 meters (3:59.20, PR) and women's 400 meters (54.41, PR), respectively. Wilkins and Branch earned bronze with third-place finishes in the men's and women's triple jump. Wilkins recorded a leap of 15.15m (49' 8.5"), while Branch recorded a leap of 12.86m (42' 2.25").
Up Next
The Mountaineers will head to Columbia, S.C. to compete in South Carolina's Weems Baskin Relays on March 22-23.
