DURHAM, N.C. – The App State men's and women's track & field team closed out competition at the Duke Invitational on Saturday after totaling 25 top-20 finishes on the weekend.
The women's 4x100-meter relay team of freshman
Zaniya Littlejohn, sophomore
Nicole Wells, senior
Mariah McCord, and sophomore
Kendall Johnson clinched gold with a time of 45.40. Wells, Johnson, and McCord went on to place among the top-20 in the women's 200 meters with times of 24.23, 24.33, and 24.36, respectively.
With a clearance of 5.07m (16' 7.5"), senior
Patrick Freeman landed fourth in the Group A section of the men's pole vault.
After advancing to Saturday's final with a time of 10.56 in Friday's prelims, junior
Ray Lee placed sixth in the men's 100-meter final with a time of 10.57. The 4x100-meter quartet of freshman
Brandon Parker, sophomore Armonté Ferguson, Lee, and freshman
Jonathan Wilson, took seventh with a time of 40.84.
The men's 4x400-meter relay squad of junior
Christian Gore, Parker, junior
Parker Kinney, and sophomore
Miller Brannen placed eighth with a time of 3:16.97. Individually, Kinney stopped the clock at 47.65 to place 13th in the men's 400 meters, while Gore rounded out the top-20 in the men's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 55.28.
Rounding out the top-10 in the men's triple jump was sophomore
Caleb Lopez, who recorded a leap of 14.18m (46' 6.25"). Junior
Ava Studney recorded a clearance of 3.70m (12' 1.5") to place 11th in the Group B section of the women's pole vault. In the men's javelin, junior
Jake Stanley recorded a toss of 50.09m (164' 4") to place 18th overall.
Friday Rewind
On Friday, redshirt senior
Calbert Guest and junior
Ethan Lipham finished second (9:00.16) and fourth (9:06.85), respectively, in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Lipham now rounds out the App State all-time list after Friday's race. Guest remains fourth in the list with a personal best of 8:54.06, which he set in 2023.
Senior
Emma Russum clocked a time of 10:34.13 to place seventh in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. She rose to second in the App State all-time list and was just shy of the school record (10:31.33), which was set by Kate Butler in 2019.
Sophomore
Jared Hiatt tied for fourth in the Group B section of the men's high jump (1.86m (6' 1.25")) and landed 12th in the men's long jump (6.89m (22' 7.25")). In the men's discus, freshman
Christopher Stewart placed ninth with a toss of 46.67m (153' 1"), while junior
Jeremiah Burch Jr. placed 17th with a mark of 45.43m (149' 0"). Stewart also placed 18th in the men's shot put after recording a toss of 15.13m (49' 7.75").
Up Next
The Mountaineers will return to Boone to host the App State Open on April 18-19 at the Randy Marion Track & Field Facility. A selection of Mountaineers will also compete at the Wake Forest Invitational on April 18.
