BOONE, N.C. - The App State men's and women's track & field team will compete at the Sun Belt Track & Field Championships, hosted by James Madison at Sentara Park in Harrisonburg, Va. on May 8-11.
Thursday's action will start at 10:30 a.m. with the multi-events, followed by field events at noon, and track events at 6:30 p.m. Multis will resume at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, with field events slated for 2:30 p.m. and track events scheduled for 5 p.m. On Saturday, field events will start at noon and track events are scheduled to start 4 p.m. The meet will be available to stream on ESPN+.
Last Time Out
The Mountaineers split for the Penn Relays (April 24-26) and LR Open (April 26) to close out the regular season. The Black and Gold crowned a Penn Relays Champion, reset a trio of school records in Philadelphia, and notched 16 first-place finishes between the two meets.
Senior
Patrick Freeman clinched the Penn Relays title in the championship section of the men's pole vault with a clearance of 5.26m (17' 3"). Freeman and sophomore
Matthew Gray hold the men's pole vault school record with a clearance of 3.35m (17' 6.5"), which they set at this season's App State Open (April 18-19). On the track, redshirt senior
Calbert Guest shattered the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase program record with a time of 8:41.01. The previous program record was 8:51.28, set in 2022. Guest placed sixth in the race and earned SBC Men's Track Athlete of the Week honors for his efforts. The women's 4x800-meter relay quartet of junior
Addison Ollendick-Smith, senior
Regan Hodge, sophomore
Rhys Ammon, and freshman
Savannah Moore stopped the clock at 8:59.68 to place eighth overall. The previous App State record was 9:06.90, which was set in 2019. Moore, Ollendick-Smith, and Ammon, in addition to sophomore
Nicole Wells, also broke the women's distance medley relay (DMR) program record with a time of 11:46.94. The previous record was 11:59.12, set in 2017, and the Mountaineers rounded out the top-15 in the race. While in Philadelphia, the Black and Gold tallied 15 top-15 finishes.
In Hickory, freshman
Kendred Walker placed first in the men's long jump (6.88m (22' 6.75")) and men's triple jump (13.86m (45' 5.75"), PR). Fellow freshman
Ella Battel also registered a pair of first-place finishes in the women's 1,500 meters (4:58.57, PR) and women's 800 meters (2:22.32). The Mountaineers saw first-place finishes from freshmen
Brittany Ellis,
Emily Edwards, and
Christopher Stewart in the women's shot put (12.23m (40' 1.5")), women's hammer throw (44.96m (147' 6"), PR), and men's shot put (16.64m (54' 7")), respectively. With a toss of 44.00m (144' 4"), junior
Jeremiah Burch Jr. clinched first in the men's discus. On the track, App State saw first-place finishes from freshman
Brandon Parker (men's 200 meters, 21.17), junior
Parker Kinney (men's 400 meters, 47.93), freshman
Ja'Naya Linder (women's 400 meters, 56.81), senior
Corlasia Scott (women's 400-meter hurdles, 1:07.31), freshman
Zach Makemson (men's 800 meters, 1:56.22), and junior
Maddie Quinn (women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, 11:59.98, PR).
Last Time at the Sun Belt Championships
At the 2024 Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Mountaineers set a program record in the women's 4x400-meter relay and totaled 10 podium finishes. In the team standings, the men's squad placed fourth with 98 points, marking its highest finish at the championship meet since joining the Sun Belt in 2014. The women's squad placed sixth with 53.2 points.
Ashlee Osaji,
Garrett Bivens and
Ethan Lipham clinched gold in the women's long jump (6.26m (20' 6.5"), facility record), men's 5,000 meters (14:27.41) and men's 1,500 meters (3:52.30), respectively. The women's 4x400-meter team of Wells,
Sierra Smith,
Daye Talley, and
Jayla Adams placed second with a program record of 3:40.01, surpassing the previous school record of 3:42.17. Individually, Gray,
Oliver Wilson-Cook, and Ollendick-Smith secured silver in the men's pole vault (5.27m (17' 3.5")), men's 10,000 meters (30:59.54), and women's 800 meters (2:09.48), respectively. Additionally, the Mountaineers saw bronze finishes from
Niejel Wilkins (men's triple jump, 15.55m (51' 0.25")),
Harrison Robinson (men's 110-meter hurdles (14.00)),
Jonah Bird (men's 10,000 meters (31:09.51)).
App State to Host the 2027 Sun Belt Championships
On Monday, the Sun Belt announced that App State would host the 2027 Sun Belt Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Boone at the Randy Marion Track & Field Facility. It will mark the Mountaineers' first time hosting the Sun Belt outdoor championship meet as well as the first conference championship meet held in Boone since 2010, when the Black and Gold hosted the SoCon Outdoor Championships.
Ranked Mountaineers
Senior
Emma Russum remains the Sun Belt's leader in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, women's 5,000 meters, and women's 10,000 meters. Guest also continues to lead the league in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase category, and is followed by Lipham, who stands third, and freshman
Thomas Wlazlowski, who rounds out the top-five in the category. Guest and Wilson-Cook also remain third and fourth, respectively, in the men's 10,000 meters. In the men's pole vault category, Freeman and Gray both stand second in the league, while freshman
Lilly Nichols and junior
Ava Studney both rank third in the women's pole vault category. Wells stands third in the women's 400 meters, while sophomore
Kendall Johnson ranks fifth in the women's 200 meters. The duo of graduate student
Ethan Turner and freshman
Henry Stark round out the top-five in the men's 5,000 meters, while the duo of Lipham and freshman
Rowan Gwin round out the league's top-five in the men's 1,500 meters. The men's 4x100-meter relay team of Parker, sophomore Armonté Ferguson, junior
Ray Lee, and freshman Johnathan Wilson rank fifth in the Sun Belt.
Up Next
The Mountaineers will host the Sunday Night Qualifier at the Randy Marion Track & Field Facility in Boone on May 18 before gearing up for the NCAA East Preliminary Round.
The NCAA East Preliminary Round is slated for May 28-31 and will be hosted by the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. The top-48 declared student-athletes in each individual event and the top-24 declared relay teams will advance to the East Prelim meet.
Freeman, Gray, and Guest currently rank among the top-48 on the NCAA East Preliminary Round Qualifying List. In the men's pole vault category, Freeman and Gray stand tied for 14th, while Guest ranks 16th in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase category. Freeman and Gray check in at 32nd nationally in the men's pole vault, and Guest stands 41st in the NCAA in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase.
