HICKORY, N.C. – The App State men's and women's track and field team opened the outdoor season with a women's pole vault program record, 20 first-place finishes, and 54 top-five finishes on Saturday.
"The men's and women's team put on a show on Saturday down the mountain," said director of track & field/cross country
Damion McLean. "Lots of personal bests and a school record to start the season is a good sign that the team is heading in the right direction."
Sophomore
Ava Studney broke the App State program record in the women's pole vault, clearing a height of 4.04m (13' 3"), surpassing the previous record of 4.02m (13' 2.25"), which was set by Taylor Drummonds in 2017. Graduate students
Noelle Meeker and
Celia Agee tied for second, each recording personal bests of 3.68m (12' 1"), while sophomore
Caroline Fowlkes tied for fourth with a clearance of 3.38m (11' 1").
Junior
Daiyanna Cooper clinched first in the women's shot put (12.67m (41' 6.75")) as well as the women's hammer throw (53.25m (174' 8")), while fellow junior
Jaeda Harris took fourth in the women's hammer throw with a personal best of 43.22m (141' 10"). Senior
Megan Plummer recorded a second-place finish in the women's discus (36.84m (120' 10")) and rounded out the top-five in the women's shot put (11.62m (38' 1.5")). Freshman
Dianna Boykin rounded out the top-five in the women's discus with a personal best mark of 33.64m (110' 4"). In the women's triple jump, junior
Jazmine Posey landed fourth with a leap of 11.44m (37' 6.5").
On the track, the 4x100-meter relay team of freshmen
Nicole Wells and
Sierra Smith, senior
Taylor Smith, and freshman
Jayla Adams clocked a time of 44.75 to clinch first overall. The quartet's time was a mere 0.02 from the program record of 44.73, which was set in 1989. The quartet of freshman
Kendall Johnson, graduate student
Alexia Moehling, sophomore
Daye Talley, and junior
Mariah McCord took second with a time of 46.24. App State secured the top-four spots in the women's 100 meters with
Taylor Smith clinching first with a personal best of 11.60. Following
Taylor Smith was Wells (11.75, PR), Johnson (11.85, PR), and McCord (12.01).
Taylor Smith's time moved her from seventh to fifth in the App State all-time list, while Wells rose to ninth on the list.
Taylor Smith also went on to clinch first in the women's long jump with a leap of 5.97m (19' 7"), while Wells went on to place first in the women's 200 meters with a personal best time of 24.09, which moved her to eighth in the all-time list. Talley finished second (24.27, PR) and McCord placed fourth (24.64) in the women's 200 meters.
Adams stopped the clock at 54.68 to finish first in the women's 400 meters, while
Sierra Smith followed close behind with a time of 55.32 to secure second. Adams' time moved her to third, while
Sierra Smith moved to sixth in the program all-time list. Moehling clocked a time of 14.52 in the women's 100-meter hurdles, which ties her with Tammy Pearsall for 10th in the App State all-time list. Moehling also finished second in the women's 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 1:04.72, which moved her to ninth in the program all-time list.
Sophomore
Lucia Garcia posted a first-place finish in the women's 800 meters, stopping the clock with a personal best time of 2:20.94. Freshman
Rhys Ammon clocked a personal best of 4:39.08 to finish first in the women's 1,500 meters, while graduate student
Elizabeth Fuller took third with a personal best of 4:48.25. In the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, graduate student
Claire Mason clinched first with a time of 11:50.10, and was followed by junior
Morgan Kornke, who clocked a personal best of 12:18.66 to place second. The women's 5,000 meters saw senior
Jasmine Donohue stop the clock at 17:50.38 to place first, while junior
Lana Farris clocked a personal best of 18:40.65 to place third.
On the men's side, the Mountaineers went 1-2-3-4 in the men's 3,000-steeplechase. Sophomore
Ethan Lipham clinched first with a personal best of 9:17.90, followed by graduate student
Jonah Bird (9:34.28), junior
Steven Smith (9:46.70, PR), and senior
Ben Datte (9:54.99). In the men's 1,500 meters, senior
Dwayne Lillie and junior
Rylan Haskett took first (3:55.19) and second (3:59.57), respectively.
Sophomore
Harrison Robinson clocked a time of 14.48 to place first in the men's 110-meter hurdles, while freshman
Davis Hunt took second in the men's 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 55.20. In the men's 400 meters, senior
Cole Krehnbrink and sophomore
Parker Kinney clinched the top-two spots with times of 48.36 and 48.72, respectively. Sophomore
Kenneth Crawford II stopped the clock at 10.73 for a personal best and third-place finish in the men's 100 meters. In the men's 800 meters, freshman
Miller Brannen took second with a personal best of 1:58.62, and Haskett took fourth with a time of 1:58.75.
Senior
Chris Wainscott clinched first in the men's hammer throw (55.69m (182' 9")) and men's shot put (17.88m (58' 8")), in addition to finishing second in the men's discus (49.01m (160' 10")). Fellow senior Nate Karl placed second in the men's shot put with a toss of 16.36m (53' 3") and rounded out the top-five in the men's discus with a toss of 47.26m (155' 1").
In the men's pole vault, junior
Matthew Bigelow made a personal best clearance of 5.00m (16' 4.75") to place first. His mark moved him to fifth in the App State all-time list. Senior
Braden Underwood landed second with a clearance of 4.76m (15' 7.5"). In his outdoor debut, freshman
Jared Hiatt tied for second in the men's high jump with a personal best clearance of 1.98m (6' 6").
Up Next
The Mountaineers will head to Columbia, S.C. for South Carolina's Weems Baskin Relays on March 22-23.
