MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The App State men's and women's track & field teams clinched both team titles at the Myrtle Beach Invitational on Saturday. The men's squad scored 142 points and the women's team scored 112.5 points. Over the course of the weekend, the Mountaineers set a new men's 3,000-meter program record, broke the women's 4x100-meter relay meet record, totaled nine event wins, and tallied 49 top-eight finishes.
"This was a really fun meet to end spring break with and an exciting experience to compete again for the men and women who ran away with the meet. It was 'surfboard mentality' today," said director of track & field/cross country
Damion McLean.
Four Mountaineers finished in the top-five of the men's 3,000 meters, led by graduate student
Ethan Turner, who clinched first and broke the App State school record with a time of 8:21.76. The previous App State record was 8:28.70, which was set in 1998 by Anthony Famiglietti. Following close behind Turner was redshirt senior
Calbert Guest, who took second with a time of 8:30.25 and moved to third in the App State all-time list. Freshman
Memphis Rich stopped the clock at 8:43.06 to finish fourth and senior
Oliver Wilson-Cook rounded out the top-five with a time of 8:45.12.
With a time of 45.67, the women's 4x100-meter relay team of freshman
Zaniya Littlejohn, sophomore
Nicole Wells, senior
Mariah McCord, and sophomore
Kendall Johnson finished first overall. The quartet broke the meet record of 45.95, which was set in 2010. Wells, McCord, and Johnson were joined by junior
Addison Ollendick-Smith in the women's 4x400-meter relay, where they clinched first with a time of 3:53.96. Individually, Johnson finished first in the women's 100-meter final with a time of 11.71, while McCord took fourth with a time of 12.01. In Friday's prelims, Johnson and McCord qualified after taking second (11.79) and sixth (12.09), respectively. Johnson and McCord also finished second (24.24) and third (24.81), respectively, in the women's 200 meters. In the women's 400 meters, Wells and Ollendick-Smith placed third (56.26, PR) and eighth (57.46), respectively.
Freshman
Thomas Wlazlowski recorded a first-place finish in the men's 1,500 meters with a time of 3:53.29, while redshirt sophomore
Rylan Haskett rounded out the top-five with a time of 3:57.41. In the women's 1,500-meter race, senior
Regan Hodge took third with a time of 4:46.89.
The men's 4x100-meter relay team of freshman
Brandon Parker, sophomore Armonté Ferguson, and freshmen
Bryce James and
Jonathan Wilson placed second, stopping the clock at 41.26. Individually, Wilson stopped the clock at 10.79 to place third in the men's 100-meter final. In Friday's prelims, he took first with a time of 10.74.
With a personal best toss of 12.51m (41' 0.5"), freshman
Brittany Ellis took third in the women's shot put. The Mountaineers also saw a third-place finish in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase as redshirt junior
Steven Smith stopped the clock at 9:31.62. Sophomore
Jared Hiatt placed fourth in the men's high jump with a leap of 2.00m (6' 6.75"). On Friday, Hiatt had recorded a leap of 6.92m (22' 8.5") to take third in the men's long jump.
On the track, freshman
Rowan Gwin recorded a time of 1:55.10 to place fourth in the men's 800 meters and senior
Corlasia Scott registered a fourth-place finish in the women's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:06.16. Junior
Christian Gore rounded out the top-five in the men's 400-meter hurdles after stopping the clock at 55.30 and fellow junior
Parker Kinney rounded out the top-five in the men's 400 meters with a time of 48.65.
With a clearance of 3.45m (11' 3.75"), junior
Caroline Fowlkes tied for fifth in the women's pole vault. Freshman
Christopher Stewart finished fifth with a toss of 47.31m (155' 2") and junior
Jeremiah Burch Jr. took eighth with a mark of 45.62m (149' 8") in the men's discus. In the women's discus, sophomore
Dianna Boykin recorded a personal best of 40.48m (132' 9") to place sixth. App State saw sixth-place finishes in both men's and women's triple jump events as sophomore
Caleb Lopez recorded a leap of 14.16m (46' 5.5") and freshman
Jahaila Wright registered a personal best leap of 11.82m (38' 9.5"). Wright also placed fourth in the women's long jump on Friday with a leap of 5.52m (18' 1.5").
In the men's 200 meters, Armonté Ferguson took eighth with a time of 22.17.
Friday Rewind
Graduate student
Patrick Freeman, sophomore
Matthew Gray, and senior
Matthew Bigelow took the top three spots in the men's pole vault on Friday. With a personal-best clearance of 5.20m (17' 0.75"), Freeman clinched first and moved to fourth in the App State all-time list. Gray finished second (5.20m (17' 0.75")) and Bigelow took third (4.70m (15' 5")).
The Black and Gold saw first-place finishes in both of the women's and men's 4x800-meter relays. The women's team of Hodge, junior
Maddie Quinn, and freshmen
Ella Battel and
Savannah Moore stopped the clock at 9:28.32 to place first. With a time of 7:39.63, the men's team of Haskett, freshman
Zach Makemson, Gwin, and junior
Ethan Lipham clinched first. Additionally in the men's 4x800-meter relay, the quartet of Wlazlowski, freshman
Henry Stark, Smith, and Turner took third (7:49.40), while the quartet of freshman
Josh Pote, junior
Tucker Sangster, freshman
Will Fiore, and Guest took sixth (7:59.81).
Redshirt junior
Chase Burrell clocked a time of 15:12.98 to finish first in the men's 5,000 meters. In the women's 5,000 meters, freshman
Breanna Budzinski placed second in the (17:43.30), senior
Lana Farris took fourth (18:16.23), and sophomore
Mary Biagini finished seventh (18:42.08). Meanwhile, in the men's hammer throw, junior
Jake Stanley recorded a personal best toss of 47.55m (156' 0") to place eighth.
Up Next
The Mountaineers return to Boone to host the Mountaineer First Chance meet at the Randy Marion Track & Field Facility on March 21.
Final Team Standings
Men's Team Standings
1. App State – 142 points
2. UNC Wilmington – 89 points
3. Coastal Carolina – 71 points
4. Rio Grande (Ohio) – 70 points
5. Gardner-Webb – 67 points
6. Campbellsville (Ky.) – 52 points
T7. Benedict – 48 points
T7. Salisbury – 48 points
9. Fort Valley State – 28 points
10. Newberry – 27 points
11. Hope – 26 points
T12. St. Thomas Aquinas – 23 points
T12. Saint Joseph's (Maine) – 23 points
14. Concord – 22 points
15. Franklin & Marshall – 16 points
16. NC Flight Club – 15 points
17. Young Harris – 14 points
T18. Marietta – 10 points
T18. Coker – 10 points
T18. Ottawa – 10 points
21. Piedmont – 9 points
22. Gordon (Mass.) – 8 points
T23. Beloit – 7 points
T23. Wilmington (Del.) – 7 points
T25. Geneva – 5 points
T25. Swarthmore – 5 points
T27. Westminster (Pa.) – 4 points
T27. Franciscan – 4 points
T27. Drew – 4 points
30. University of Toronto Track Club – 2 points
Women's Team Standings
1. App State – 112.5 points
2. Coastal Carolina – 91 points
3. Gardner-Webb – 87 points
4. Northern Illinois – 85 points
5. UNC Wilmington – 80 points
T6. College of Charleston – 67 points
T6. Cleveland State – 67 points
8. Hope – 49 points
9. Salisbury – 30 points
10. Newberry – 23.5 points
11. Fort Valley State – 23 points
12. Franciscan – 22 points
13. Benedict – 16.5 points
14. Gordon (Mass.) – 16 points
15. Swarthmore – 14 points
16. Rio Grande (Ohio) – 13 points
T17. Concord – 12 points
T17. Geneva – 12 points
19. St. Cloud State – 11.5 points
20. Covenant – 10 points
T21. Campbellsville (Ky.) – 8 points
T21. University of Toronto Track Club – 8 points
T21. Ottawa – 8 points
24. Franklin & Marshall – 7 points
25. Husson – 6 points
26. Wilmington (Del.) – 5 points
27. St. Thomas Aquinas – 3 points
T28. Marietta – 2 points
T28. Piedmont – 2 points
T30. Coker – 1 point
T30. Young Harris – 1 point
