Eight Eagles eclipse new best times in final day
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The final day of the East Tennessee State Buccaneer Invitational from the David E. Walker Track at Gentry Field came to a close on Saturday as Carson-Newman fought through injuries in its continued preparation for the South Atlantic Conference Championships at the end of the month.
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - The final day of the East Tennessee State Buccaneer Invitational from the David E. Walker Track at Gentry Field came to a close on Saturday as Carson-Newman fought through injuries in its continued preparation for the South Atlantic Conference Championships at the end of the month.
Luke Greer broke an ETSU meet record in the 3000-meter run to close out the day for C-N with a time of 8:28.27. The previous record was held by a league foe in Anderson who Greer beat by two seconds. Greer lapped two runners with still two laps remaining in the race, and lapped a third in the final lap. The next closest runner came in at 8:44.47 followed by third-place's time of 8:52.42.
"No specific song for me to help today like last week," Greer said. "The legs felt a little bit tired warming up and I wasn't too hopeful on how it was going to go. I felt pretty good once the race started and it just felt good rolling on. It's tough to run by yourself but it was a consistent few laps. It's a decent time and to beat Mason Hazel's record, we've had some good battles over the past couple years so it's nice to take something else away from him."
Klara Naude won the 800-meter run for the Eagles with a time of 2:34.68, a new personal best time. Naude's previous low came last week at the Finn Pincus Invitational at Roanoke College in Salem, Va. as she cut over ten seconds off her time.
Freshman Alexis Brown finished in seventh for C-N at 2:38.19 in the 800m, a time that is over a second better than her previous low set seven days prior.
Another school record falled in day two for Coach David Needs' group as freshman Rachel Strayer topped the one mile run by over seven seconds with a time of 5:32.05, a record that stood since 2016 when Hannah Green ran it in 5:39.71.
Sophomore distance runner Cameron McKinley turn in a new personal record in the 3000-meter run shaving off over six seconds from his previous low with a finish at 9:14.81. The Brighton, Tenn. native had set his record last week at the Finn Pincus Invitational.
Skye McCarter grabbed a third-place finish in the same event with a time of 11:22.08 which also claimed a new personal low time after previously coming in at 11:23.27 just last week at the Finn Pincus Invitational.
Devon Moore competed in the 60m dash final during the afternoon, the lone Eagle to represent the school in the event. After clocking in at 6.88 in the prelims and 6.85 seconds in the semifinals a day ago, the Baxley, Ga. native matched his semifinal time, winning the heat but finishing second overall to Lenoir-Rhyne's PJ Lotharp who ran 6.81 in the second heat.
Slated to run in the finals after a 21.53-second victory in the 200-meter dash yesterday, Moore did not compete.
"I felt good coming into the weekend," Moore said. "I knew I would have some tough competition in all my races and in reality it was good for me. I needed someone to push me so I could compete even harder. This weekend taught me a few things about my running, how I need to stay relaxed when running the 60-meter and don't get out of my running frame. Just little things I need to improve on as we go forward."
James Wilson continues to have a strong campaign after sitting out last season finishing second in the triple jump after clearing 14.60 meters, his second-best mark of the season. Wilson, a native of Fontanna, Calif., grabbed the runner-up spot with Keiser University's Anthony Applequist clearing 15.11 meters which currently sits at 4th in all of Division II. Wilson's personal best jump of 14.72m earlier this season holds the No. 15 best mark in the nation.
Jahvad McDermott and Kristofer Potts-Howard finished in seventh and eighth respectively with 13.90 and 13.87m marks.
Amy Davidson grabbed a new personal low time in the one mile run which included a 14th place finish at a time of 5:49.26. Her mark is over eight seconds better than her previous low time that came earlier this season at the same track for the ETSU Invitational.
Bekah White led all C-N runners in the mile with a time of 5:47.28 to round out the top-10. Junior Aubree Cole (22nd) earned a new personal record in just her second event as an Eagle checking in at 5:59.11, over five seconds lower.
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