Lions open season at JDL Fastrack

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The Lions traveled to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to compete in the Early Bird Invitational hosted by JDL Fast Track.

850+ athletes representing teams from all NCAA divisions as well the NAIA took to the track.

Several Lions had a day. Thirteen personal bests were made, two school records fell, and one NCAA DII provisional qualifying mark was met.

Sprint Crew

Senior Jackson McClain led the way for our sprint crew. McClain, competing in the men's 60m dash, sprinted his way to a new personal best 6.87s in prelims, winning his heat and advancing to finals. Jackson placed 6^th overall with a time of 6.9s in the finals. Both times bested his previous best of 7.04s. Jackson is 0.04 seconds away from a new school record, and 0.02 seconds off of a NCAA DII provisional qualifying time.

Ethan Lee, Traveon Howell, Jared Benain, and RaQuan Coles competed in the 60m Dash as well. Lee placed 25^th with a time of 7.3s. Howell placed 46^th overall with a time of 7.54s. Benain placed 48^th overall with a time of 7.55s. And, Coles placed 56^th overall finishing in a time of 8.26s.

Lee competed in the men's 200m sprint, placing 25^th overall with a time of 23.81s. This was a strong start to the season for Ethan as this was his best 200m run at JDL.

Johnny McIntyre and Connor Cecil both competed in their first collegiate indoor meet. Cecil placed 45^th overall in the 400m sprint with a time of 57.48s. McIntyre placed 50^th overall with a time of 58.22s.

Throws Squad

Freshman, Jesse Shelton led the way from the Lions in throws. Shelton placed 1^st overall in men's Shot Put with a throw of 16.20m (53' 1.75"). His throw set a new school record, crushing the previous record of 50' 6.75" set in 2014.

Justus Shelton had a big day in shot put as well, advancing to finals with a new personal best throw of 13.36m (43' 10"). His throw surpassed his previous best by over a foot. Shelton finished 8^th overall.

Antonio Lorenzo competed in his first collegiate meet representing the Lions in men's Hammer. Lorenzo established a personal best 12.22m (40' 0.5"). He placed 17^th overall on the day.

Jumps Squad

Jared Benain started his season off strong in men's Triple Jump. Benain placed 2^nd overall, establishing a new personal best of 14.75m (48' 4.75"). With this jump, Benain set a new school record and provisionally qualified for NCAA DII Indoor Nationals.

Jackson McClain, Traveon Howell, and Wanya Martin represented the Lions on the long jump runway. McClain placed 24^th with a jump of 5.76m. Howell placed 35^th with a jump of 5.75m. Martin placed 45^th with a jump of 5.01m.

Distance Crew

The men's distance crew took the track a few short weeks after concluding their cross country season. The men kicked things off with the 3000m run. Hunt led the way, finishing 22^nd overall with a time of 9:29.27. Brandon Wright finished close behind in a time of 9:30.90. Good enough for 23^rd overall. Taft Cummings placed 33^rd overall with a time of 9:35.22. Kelvin Kiprop placed 27^th with a time of 9:44.29. Maliki Pope finished in 35^th with a time of 10:11.67.

Wright took to the track a couple hours later, competing in 1000m run. Wright made a strong showing, finishing 9^th of 17 with a time 2:47.14.

Hunt, Cummings, and Kiprop all competed in the mile run. Hunt, finishing in a time of 4:49.5, placed 29^th overall out of 50 competitors. Kiprop finished close behind in time of 4:51.21, good enough of 31^st place. Cummings placed 33^rd with a time of 4:52.48.

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For meet results, head to https://live.jdlfasttrack.com/meets/26258

Next up, the Lions return to JDL Fast Track on January 13^th to compete in the Mondo Classic.