Lions open outdoor season at Montreat Open
BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. - The Mars Hill men's track and field team kicked off their outdoor track season at the Montreat Open this past Friday-Saturday, March 21st-22nd hosted by Montreat College. The meet was a great start to the outdoor season as the Lion's picked up several event wins, a couple new school records, NCAA Provisional marks in Shot Put/Discus, and new personal bests set by several Lions.
Event Wins
Jesse Shelton provisionally qualified for NCAA DII Outdoor Nationals in both Shot Put and Discus. Shelton placed 1st in both events. Shelton's throw of 17.22m in Shot Put ranks him 1st in South Atlantic Conference standings and 4th in the Nation for NCAA DII. Shelton broke his own school record in Discus with a monster throw of 52.59m (172-06). Shelton ranks 1st in South Atlantic Conference Standings and 7th in the Nation for NCAA DII.
Will Wainwright set a new school record in Javelin with a 1st place throw of 53.95m (177'). Wainwright currently ranks 2nd in South Atlantic Conference Standings.
Ely Taylor crossed the line first in the 25-lap 10,000m run. Taylor placed 1st with a personal best time of 33:04.28. Taylor currently ranks 8th in South Atlantic Conference Standings.
Highlights from the Track
Hunter Philyaw placed 4th in the 100m sprint with a Personal Best time of 10.98s. Philyaw's time places him 2nd on the MHU All-time Freshmen list.
Several Lions competed in the men's 5000m run. Leading the way, Sean Sanchez finished 2nd in the men's 5000m run with a time of 15:43.04. Brandon McNulty placed 3rd in the men's 5000m run with a time of 15:47.59. Sawyer Cripps placed 8th with a time of 16:33.39. Grant Richardson placed 10th with a time of 17:14.41. Brett Cram placed 12th with a time of 17:39.41. Mason Smith placed 14th with a time of 18:15.50.
Braxton 'Taft' Cummings placed 11th in the 1500m run with a time of 4:13.59.
Matthew O'Connor established a personal best on the track in the men's 10,000m run, finishing 2nd with a time of 33:12.47.
Charles Fuerneisen placed 5th in the 10,000m run with a personal best time of 34:35.43.
Connor Cecil placed 17th in the 400m sprint with a time of 53.38s. Aizen Bell placed 19th with a personal best 54.83s.
Malik Laurent placed 8th in the 100m sprint with a time of 11.14s. Aiden Burton placed 14th with a time of 11.39s.
Justin Kawkye sprinted to a personal best 23.20s in the 200m. Kwakye placed 13th overall.
Levi Hill placed 2nd in the 110m Hurdles with a collegiate best 16.11s.
Luke New placed 4th in the 110m Hurdles with a collegiate best 17.94s.
Highlights from the Field
Will Wainwright placed 2nd in Discus with a personal best throw of 44.60m (146-04). Wainwright currently ranks 4th in Conference standings.
Justus Shelton set personal bests in Discus and the Hammer throw. Shelton placed 6th in Discus with a throw of 41.24m and 7th in Hammer with a throw of 37.59m. Shelton is currently ranked 6th in conference standings for Discus. He placed 3rd in Javelin with a throw of 48.15m and currently ranks 6th in conference standings in the event.
Luke New placed 4th in Javelin with a Collegiate best throw of 45.74m. New competed in High Jump as well, placing 3rd overall with a jump of 1.81m.
Brennon Craig established a collegiate best in Javelin with a 7th place throw of 37.28m.
Iggy Welch established collegiate bests in Discus, Hammer, and Javelin. Welch placed 8th in Discus with a throw of 40.66m, 4th in Hammer with a throw of 40.03m, and 11th in javelin with a throw of 33.61m. Welch currently ranks 8th in Discus in Conference standings.
Hank Bowen jumped a collegiate best 5.92m in Long Jump, placing 8th overall on the day.
Ashtin Gainey placed 4th in shot put with a throw of 13.97m. Gainey also threw a personal best 38.45m in Discus.
Meet Results: https://live.rrtiming.com/meets/42804
Next up: Catch the Lions back in action this Friday, March 28th at King University as they compete in the King Invitational.
