Lions open season at JDL Fastrack
The Lions traveled to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to compete in the Early Bird Invitational hosted by JDL Fast Track.
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 6th 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 25th with a time of 7.3s. Howell placed 46th overall with a time of 7.54s. Benain placed 48th overall with a time of 7.55s. And, Coles placed 56th overall finishing in a time of 8.26s.
Lee competed in the men's 200m sprint, placing 25th 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 45th overall in the 400m sprint with a time of 57.48s. McIntyre placed 50th overall with a time of 58.22s.
Throws Squad
Freshman, Jesse Shelton led the way from the Lions in throws. Shelton placed 1st 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 8th 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 17th overall on the day.
Jumps Squad
Jared Benain started his season off strong in men's Triple Jump. Benain placed 2nd 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 24th with a jump of 5.76m. Howell placed 35th with a jump of 5.75m. Martin placed 45th 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 22nd overall with a time of 9:29.27. Brandon Wright finished close behind in a time of 9:30.90. Good enough for 23rd overall. Taft Cummings placed 33rd overall with a time of 9:35.22. Kelvin Kiprop placed 27th with a time of 9:44.29. Maliki Pope finished in 35th 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 9th 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 29th overall out of 50 competitors. Kiprop finished close behind in time of 4:51.21, good enough of 31st place. Cummings placed 33rd 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 13th to compete in the Mondo Classic.
