HARRISONBURG, Va. – The App State men's and women's track & field team opened the first day of competition at the Sun Belt Outdoor Championships on Thursday with a pair of podium finishes and a new women's pole vault program record. At the close of the first day of competition, the men's team stands third with 19 points and the women's team stands sixth with 12 points.
Freshman
Lilly Nichols broke the App State women's pole vault program record with a personal best clearance of 4.11m (13' 5.75") and secured silver in Thursday's competition. The previous school record was 4.04m (13' 3"), set last year by
Ava Studney. Nichols now holds both the Mountaineers' indoor and outdoor women's pole vault records. Alongside Nichols, Studney scored for the Black and Gold in Thursday's competition with a fifth-place finish and clearance of 3.91m (12' 10").
The Mountaineers also saw a podium finish from graduate student
Ethan Turner, who stopped the clock at 30:07.94 to place second in the men's 10,000 meters. He moves to ninth in the App State all-time list in the event. Senior
Chase Burrell placed fourth with a personal best of 30:25.19 and freshman
Memphis Rich rounded out the top-five with a time of 30:27.98. Senior
Oliver Wilson-Cook recorded a time of 30:32.77 to place seventh overall.
Advancements
In the men's 200-meter prelims, junior
Ray Lee stopped the clock at 21.03 for a personal best and second-place finish. He advanced to Saturday's 6:30 p.m. men's 200-meter final and rose to seventh in the App State all-time list.
Four Mountaineers finished among the top-10 in the men's 1,500-meter prelims, led by junior
Ethan Lipham, who stopped the clock at 3:51.98 to place second. Redshirt junior
Steven Smith finished third with a time of 3:52.27. Freshman
Rowan Gwin rounded out the top-five with a time of 3:52.53, while senior
Rylan Haskett took seventh with a personal best of 3:52.64. The quartet will compete in the final at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.
A trio of Mountaineers also advanced to Saturday's 4:20 p.m. women's 1,500-meter final. Sophomore
Rhys Ammon placed fourth with a personal best of 4:33.41 in the prelims. Freshman
Savannah Moore took fifth with a time of 4:33.42. Senior
Regan Hodge stopped the clock at 4:35.36 to place 11th.
Competition will resume at 10:30 a.m. on Friday with the conclusion of the multis. Friday's field events are scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. and track events set to begin at 5 p.m.
Team Standings
Men's Team Standings | 3 of 21 Events Scored
1.South Alabama – 33 points
2. Arkansas State – 21 points
3. App State – 19 points
4. Texas State – 18 points
5. ULM – 13 points
6. Louisiana – 6 points
7. Coastal Carolina – 5 points
8. Troy – 2 points
- Marshall – 0 points
- Southern Miss – 0 points
Women's Team Standings | 4 of 21 Events Scored
1.South Alabama – 37 points
2. Texas State – 35 points
3. Louisiana – 27 points
4. Arkansas State – 20 points
5. Coastal Carolina – 16 points
6. App State – 12 points
7. James Madison – 6 points
8. Troy – 2 points
9. Marshall – 1 point
- ULM – 0 points
- Georgia Southern – 0 points
- Southern Miss – 0 points
