RALEIGH, N.C. – The App State men's and women's track & field team capped competition at the Raleigh Relays on Saturday. Over the course of three days the Mountaineers broke a pair of school records and saw 42 top-50 finishes.
"This was a great meet from each corner of the team. We had a lot of seasonal and personal best to go along with more school records broken," said director of track & field/cross country
Damion McLean. "This is the kind of momentum we need to have in the middle of the season."
The women's 4x100-meter relay team of sophomores
Kendall Johnson and
Nicole Wells, senior
Mariah McCord, and freshman Zaniya Littejohn placed second in their heat and third overall with a time of 45.42. Johnson went on to place seventh in the women's 200 meters with a personal best of 23.77, while Wells recorded a personal best of her own, 23.82, to place 10th. Johnson and Wells both won their heats and move to seventh and eighth, respectively in the App State all-time list. McCord stopped the clock at 24.28 to place 27th and Littlejohn tied for 48th with a time of 24.64. The pair finished second in their respective heats.
The quartet of freshman
Brandon Parker, sophomores Armonté Ferguson and
Deuce Crawford, and freshman
Jonathan Wilson stopped the clock at 41.03 to place 12th in the men's 4x100-meter relay. Wilson went on to tie for 45th in the men's 200 meters with a time of 21.67.
In the men's long jump, sophomore
Jared Hiatt recorded a leap of 6.93m (22' 9") to place 15th. On the track, junior
Christian Gore stopped the clock at 54.92 to place 30th in the men's 400-meter hurdles.
In the men's hammer throw, junior
Jake Stanley placed 38th after registering a toss of 46.12m (151' 4").
Junior
Addison Ollendick-Smith came within two seconds of her personal best with a time of 2:10.01 to round out the top-60 in the women's 800 meters.
Raleigh Relays Rewind
A pair of broken program records highlighted the first day of action at the Raleigh Relays as graduate student
Ethan Turner posted a personal best of 14:08.07 for a new men's 5,000-meter record and redshirt senior
Calbert Guest clocked a personal best of 29:12.85 for a new men's 10,000-meter record. Freshmen
Henry Stark and
Thomas Wlazlowski joined Turner in the program all-time list top-three with 5,000-meter times of 14:10.86 and 14:14.87, respectively. The previous App State men's 5,000-meter record was 14:18.05, set in 2024 by
Garrett Bivens. Following Guest in the App State all-time list for the men's 10,000 meters was graduate student
Oliver Wilson-Cook, who clocked a personal best of 29:47.64. The previous App State men's 10,000-meter record was 29:39.31, set in 2021 by Isaac Benz. Freshman
Christopher Stewart rounded out the top-20 in the men's shot put with a toss of 15.21m (49' 11"), while senior
Jake Stanley rounded out the top-30 in the men's javelin with a toss of 46.10m (151' 3").
On Saturday, sophomore
Matthew Gray landed second in the invitational section of the men's pole vault with a clearance of 5.15m (16' 10.75"). Senior
Patrick Freeman tied for sixth in the event with a clearance of 5.05m (16' 6.75"). On the track, Johnson clocked a personal best of 11.59 to place seventh in the women's 100 meters. She remains sixth in the App State all-time list. Also in the women's 100 meters, Wells stopped the clock at 11.72m to come within 0.02 of her personal best and place 13th overall. Freshman
Jahaila Wright landed 13th in the women's triple jump with a leap of 11.80m (38' 8.75"). With a personal best of 34:41.91, senior
Emma Russum placed 17th in the women's 10,000 meters and rose to second in the App State all-time list. In the men's 400 meters, junior
Parker Kinney finished 21st with a time of 47.66, while Stewart placed 21st in the men's discus with a toss of 46.93m (153' 11")). Junior
Jeremiah Burch Jr. joined Stewart in the men's discus top-25 with a toss of 45.45m (149' 1"). Meanwhile, in the men's triple jump, sophomore
Caleb Lopez landed in the top-25 with a leap of 13.43m (44' 0.75").
Up Next
The Mountaineers will compete at the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C. on April 10-12.
