MONROE, La. –The App State men's and women's track and field team capped competition at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships with a new program record in the women's 4x400-meters and totaled 10 medals on the weekend, six of which were earned on Saturday. In the team standings the men finished fourth with 98 points, which is the highest finish for the men's team at the championship meet since joining the Sun Belt in 2014. The women placed sixth in the team standings with 53.2 points.
"I'm very excited to have come into this meet with some contenders in each event," said director of track & field/cross country
Damion McLean. "This coaching staff just showed everyone what we can accomplish together."
"We had some missed opportunities, but others showed up and showed out when obstacles were in their way. I'm proud of everyone who put everything on the line for the Black and Gold. We will be back stronger next year and we are excited for the future."
In the men's 5,000 meters, sophomore
Garrett Bivens clinched gold with a time of 14:27.41. Senior
Ethan Barber, graduate student
Jonah Bird, and senior
Oliver Wilson-Cook also contributed to the Mountaineers' team score by placing fifth (14:39.42, PR), sixth (14:39.95), and seventh (14:43.02), respectively. Sophomore
Ethan Lipham garnered gold in the men's 1,500 meters, stopping the clock at 3:52.30. Sophomore
Steven Smith added to the Mountaineers' team score with a seventh-place finish in the race with a time of time of 3:59.57
The women's 4x400-meter relay quartet of freshmen
Nicole Wells and
Sierra Smith, sophomore
Daye Talley, and freshman
Jayla Adams secured silver and set a new App State program record with a season best time of 3:40.01. The previous App State record was 3:42.17, set by
Jelonnie Smith,
Jada Branch,
Hunter Robinson, and
Mariah Atwater in 2023.
In the women's 800 meters, sophomore
Addison Ollendick-Smith secured silver with a time of 2:09.48. She had set the facility record of 2:10.43 in the prelims, but ULM's Kimone Campbell reset the record at 2:07.46 in the final.
Senior
Niejel Wilkins appeared on the podium after his performance in the men's triple jump, where he landed third with a leap of 15.55m (51' 0.25"). Wilkins had previously earned bronze in the triple jump at last year's conference championship meet. Sophomore
Harrison Robinson also registered a third-place finish with a time of 14.00 flat in the men's 110-meter hurdles.
In the women's triple jump, graduate student
Ashlee Osaji landed fourth with a season best leap of 12.58m (41' 3.75"). App State also saw a fourth-place finish from the women's 4x100-meter relay team of freshmen
Kendall Johnson and
Sierra Smith, senior
Taylor Smith, and freshman
Jayla Adams, who stopped the clock at 44.95. In the women's 1,500-meter final, senior
Jasmine Donohue placed fourth (4:36.43) and freshman
Rhys Ammon took seventh (4:39.45). Donohue also went on to place seventh in the women's 5,000 meters with a time of 17:40.80.
With a time of 47.38, sophomore
Parker Kinney rounded out the top-five in the men's 400 meters. Kinney went on to compete in the men's 4x400-meter relay with senior
Jabari Dalton, freshman
Davis Hunt, and senior
Cole Krehnbrink. The quartet rounded out the top-five with a season best time of 3:12.42.
Freshman
Jared Hiatt, Dalton and senior
Taylor Smith registered sixth-place finishes for the Mountaineers. Hiatt cleared a personal best bar of 2.02m (6' 7.5") in the men's high jump. On the track, Dalton stopped the clock at 53.98 in the men's 400-meter hurdles, while
Taylor Smith clocked a time of 24.02 in the women's 200 meters.
Sophomore
Nadiyah Byard tied for eighth in the women's high jump with a clearance of 1.62m (5' 3.75"). The men's 4x100-meter relay team of freshman Armonté Ferguson, Wilkins,
Harrison Robinson, and Kreknbrink stopped the clock at 41.92 to place eighth.
Day 1 & 2 Review
Four Mountaineers earned spots on the podium on Friday. Osaji garnered gold in the women's long jump with a facility record leap of 6.26m (20' 6.5"). Freshman
Matthew Gray and Wilson-Cook secured silver in the men's pole vault and men's 10,000 meters, respectively. Gray recorded a clearance of 5.27m (17' 3.5"). On the track, Wilson-Cook stopped the clock at 30:59.54. Joining Wilson-Cook on the men's 10,000-meter podium was Bird, who stopped the clock at 31:09.51 to place third.
Junior
Jonah Morris led the Mountaineers in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, stopping the clock at 9:15.48 for a top-five finish.
Steven Smith and senior
Ben Datte clocked personal bests of 9:24.55 (seventh) and 9:24.72 (eighth), respectively. Junior
Matthew Bigelow and senior
Nathan Karl also added to the Mountaineers' team score with a sixth-place finish in the men's pole vault (5.02m (16' 5.5")) and seventh-place finish in the men's shot put (16.71m (54' 10"), respectively.
On Thursday, junior
Daiyanna Cooper and senior
Chris Wainscott placed sixth in the women's hammer throw (54.84m (179' 11")) and men's hammer throw (55.88m (183' 4")), respectively. In the women's pole vault, graduate student
Celia Agee registered a seventh-place finish with a personal best clearance of 3.72m (12' 2.5"), which tied her for eighth in the App State all-time list.
Up Next
The NCAA East Preliminary Round is slated for May 22-25 in Lexington, Ky. The top-48 declared student-athletes in each individual event and top-24 declared relay teams will advance to the competition. Accepted entries will be announced a week prior to competition on NCAA.com.
Seven Mountaineers currently stand in the top-48 of the NCAA East Preliminary Round Qualifying List at the close of Saturday's competition. Osaji and
Taylor Smith rank fifth and 18th, respectively, in the women's long jump. Wilkins ranks 11th in the men's triple jump and Gray ranks 17th in the men's pole vault.
Harrison Robinson ranks 40th in the men's 110-meter hurdles, sophomore
Ava Studney ranks 42nd in the women's pole vault, and Wainscott ranks 46th in the men's shot put.
All regional qualifiers will be finalized at the conclusion of all NCAA conference meets.
Men's Team Standings
1.South Alabama – 143 points
2. Texas State – 118 points
3. Louisiana – 99 points
4. App State – 98 points
5. Arkansas State – 90 points
6. Southern Miss – 86 points
7. Coastal Carolina – 74 points
8. ULM – 59 points
9. Troy – 41 points
10. Marshall – 10 points
Women's Team Standings
1. Texas State – 120.2 points
2. Louisiana – 115.7 points
3. Arkansas State – 92 points
4. Southern Miss – 90.2 points
5. Marshall – 71.2 points
6. App State – 53.2 points
7. Georgia Southern – 48 points
8. ULM – 46 points
9. Georgia State – 44 points
10. Coastal Carolina – 43 points
11. James Madison – 30 points
12. South Alabama – 35.5 points
13. Troy – 19 points
