BOONE, N.C. - The App State men's and women's track & field team will compete at the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C. this weekend. Action at the Duke Invitational is set for April 10-12 and the Mountaineers will open competition on Friday. The meet will also be available to stream on ACCNX.
Friday's action is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. with the field events and track events are set for 3:15 p.m. On Saturday, field events will begin at 11 a.m. and track events are slated for an 11:30 a.m. start.
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers rounded out the month of March at the Raleigh Relays (March 27-29), breaking two school records and tallying 42 top-50 finishes.
Graduate student
Ethan Turner broke the App State men's 5,000-meter record with a personal best of 14:08.07. He was joined in the program all-time top-three by freshmen
Henry Stark and
Thomas Wlazlowski, who clocked times of 14:10.86 and 14:14.87, respectively. The previous record was 14:18.05, set in 2024 by
Garrett Bivens. Redshirt senior
Calbert Guest broke the men's 10,000-meter record with a personal best of 29:12.85. The previous program record was set in 2021 by Isaac Benz.
In the invitational section of men's pole vault, sophomore
Matthew Gray landed second with a clearance of 5.15m (16' 10.75") while senior
Patrick Freeman tied for sixth with a clearance of 5.05m (16' 6.75"). The Mountaineers saw a third-place finish in the women's 4x100-meter relay team of sophomores
Kendall Johnson and
Nicole Wells, senior
Mariah McCord, and freshman
Zaniya Littlejohn with a time of 45.42. Individually, Johnson posted a pair of seventh-place finishes and personal bests in the women's 100 meters (11.59) and women's 200 meters (23.77). Wells also clocked a personal best of 23.82 to round out the top-10 in the women's 200 meters.
Last Time at the Duke Invitational
The Mountaineers tallied 60 top-20 finishes at the 2024 Duke Invitational. App State saw a first-place finish in the women's long jump as
Ashlee Osaji recorded a leap of 6.31m (20' 8.5"). The women's 4x100-meter relay team clocked a time of 45.08 to place second. The Mountaineers also saw a second-place finish from
Taylor Smith in the women's 200m with a time of 23.55. In the women's 100 meters, Smith and Johnson placed fourth (11.56) and sixth (11.73), respectively. The men's 4x400-meter relay team and men's 4x100-meter team notched fourth-place finishes with times of 40.85 and 3:13.57, respectively. Gray rounded out the top-five with a clearance of 5.25m (17' 2.75") in the men's pole vault Group A final.
Ranked Mountaineers
Senior
Emma Russum leads the Sun Belt in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase and the women's 10,000 meters. Joining Russum in the women's 10,000-meter rankings is freshman
Breanna Budzinski, who stands third in the league. Gray and Freeman stand second in the SBC in the men's pole vault category. In the men's 5,000 meters, Turner checks in at second, followed by Stark and Wlazlowski, who rank third and fourth, respectively. Guest and graduate student
Oliver Wilson-Cook rank second and third in the men's 10,000 meters. Junior
Ethan Lipham checks in at third in the men's 1,500 meters and men's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Joining Lipham in the 1,500-meter rankings is freshman
Rowan Gwin, who stands fourth. Redshirt junior
Steven Smith rounds out the league's top-five in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase rankings.
Twenty-two Mountaineers in 14 events stand among the top-25 in the NCAA Southeast Region.
Four Mountaineers rank among the top-48 in the NCAA East Preliminary Qualifying List, led by Freeman and Gray, who are tied for 20th in the men's pole vault category. The duo are also tied for 45th nationally. Russum ranks 37th in the women's 10,000 meters and Johnson checks in at 47th in the women's 100 meters.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will host the App State Open on April 18-19 at the Randy Marion Track & Field Facility at the App 105 Complex. A selection of Mountaineers will also make an appearance at the Wake Forest Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C. on April 18.
