MONROE, La. –The App State men's and women's track and field team made a quartet of podium appearances on the second day of competition at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships on Friday. Two-thirds of the way through competition the men's team ranks third with 40 points while the women rank eighth with 15 points in the team standings.
Action on Saturday will start at 12 p.m. CT (1 p.m. ET) with the field events. Track events will start at 4 p.m. CT (5 p.m. ET).
Graduate student
Ashlee Osaji garnered gold in the women's long jump with a facility record leap of 6.26m (20' 6.5"). The previous facility record was 6.10m (20' 0.25"), which was set in 1982 by Mississippi Valley State's Vogel Newsome. Freshman
Matthew Gray led the Mountaineers in the men's pole vault with a second-place finish and clearance of 5.27m (17' 3.5"). Junior
Matthew Bigelow finished sixth with a personal best of 5.02m (16' 5.5").
Senior
Oliver Wilson-Cook and graduate student
Jonah Bird landed on the podium with second and third-place finishes in the men's 10,000 meters, clocking times of 30:59.54 and 31:09.51, respectively. Junior
Chase Burrell also scored for the Mountaineers in the men's 10,000 meters after finishing sixth with a personal best of 31:14.06.
In the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, junior
Jonah Morris stopped the clock at 9:15.48 to round out the top-five. Sophomore
Steven Smith and senior
Ben Datte each clocked personal bests with times of 9:24.55 and 9:24.72, respectively. The pair placed seventh and eighth overall. In the men's shot put, senior
Nathan Karl recorded a season best toss of 16.71m (54' 10") to place seventh.
Advancements
Addison Ollendick-Smith qualified for the women's 800-meter final after finishing first in her heat and overall, clocking a facility record of 2:10.43. Fellow sophomore
Parker Kinney also advanced to Saturday's finals after stopping the clock at 47.31 to place second in his heat and sixth overall in the men's 400-meter prelims.
Senior
Taylor Smith advanced to Saturday's women's 200-meter finals after stopping the clock at 23.78 to place second in her heat and seventh overall in the prelims. Sophomore
Harrison Robinson stopped the clock at 14.14 to finish third in his heat and seventh overall in the men's 110-meter hurdle final to advance to Saturday's final. Senior
Jabari Dalton advanced to Saturday's men's 400-meter hurdle finals after stopping the clock at 53.63 to place second in his heat and eighth overall in the prelims.
Day 1 Review
The Mountaineers saw junior
Daiyanna Cooper and senior
Chris Wainscott finish sixth in the women's and men's hammer throw, respectively. Cooper recorded a toss of 54.84m (179' 11") while Wainscott recorded a toss of 55.88m (183' 4"). Graduate student
Celia Agee also scored for the Black and Gold with a seventh-place finish in the women's pole vault with a personal best clearance of 3.72m (12' 2.5"), which tied her for eighth in the App State all-time list.
Thursday's women's and men's 1,500-meter prelims saw five Mountaineers advance to the finals. In the women's race, senior
Jasmine Donohue clinched first in her heat and fifth overall with a time of 4:37.95 while freshman
Rhys Ammon finished fifth in her heat and 10th overall with a time of 4:41.89 to advance. In the men's race Morris placed second in his heat and overall with a personal best of 3:54.94, followed by
Steven Smith who finished third in his heat and overall with a time of 3:55.13. Sophomore
Ethan Lipham placed second in his heat and rounded out the overall top-10 with a time of 3:58.57 to advance.
Women's Team Standings | 8 of 21 Events Scored
1.Louisiana – 57.5 points
2. Arkansas State – 54 points
3. Texas State – 52 points
T4. James Madison – 23 points
T4. ULM – 23 points
6. South Alabama – 22.5 points
7. Marshall – 18 points
8. App State – 15 points
9. Troy – 14 points
10. Coastal Carolina – 13 points
11. Georgia Southern – 10 points
T12. Georgia State – 5 points
T12. Southern Miss – 5 points
Men's Team Standings | 8 of 21 Events Scored
1.South Alabama – 90 points
2. Arkansas State – 45 points
3. App State – 40 points
4. Louisiana – 29 points
5. Southern Miss – 26 points
6. Troy – 26 points
7. Texas State – 25 points
8. ULM – 22 points
9. Coastal Carolina – 5 points
10. Marshall. – 4 points
