App State track and field participated in the Penn Relays and the Lenoir-Rhyne Open Thursday through Saturday.
In the Penn Relays the women’s 4×800-meter relay finished with a time of 8:59.68, breaking the program record set in 2019, despite finishing in eighth place overall. Running this relay was junior Addison Ollendick-Smith, senior Regan Hodge, sophomore Rhys Ammon and freshman Savannah Moore.
Graduate Student Patrick Freeman finished first in the championship section of the men’s pole vault, clearing the bar at 5.26 meters. He tied the program record of sophomore Matthew Gray, who also participated in the event but was not able to register a jump.
The women’s distance medley relay team of Moore, sophomore Nicole Wells, Ollendick-Smith, and Ammon broke the program record at 11:46.94, but ultimately finished 14th.
Redshirt senior Calbert Guest passed the program record in the men’s 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:42.01, finishing sixth in the competition.
In the LR Open, junior Jeremiah Burch Jr. placed first in the men’s discus throw, topping out at 44 meters. Also finishing in top spots were freshman Zach Makemson in the men’s 800-meter with a run of 1:56.22 and junior Corlasia Scott in the women’s 400-meter hurdles at 1:07.31.
The Black and Gold had a great day in the 400-meters, taking first place in both men’s and women’s as junior Parker Kinney finished at 47.93 for the men and freshman Ja’Naya Linder for the women at 56.81
App State swept the podium in the men’s 200-meters. Kinney finished third in the event at 21.61, sophomore Armonté Ferguson placed second at 21.23, and freshman Brandon Parker rounded out the event on top with a time of 21.17.
Two Mountaineers had multiple finishes at the top spot at the LR Open. Freshman Kendred Walker jumped for 6.88m in the men’s long jump and achieved a personal best 13.86m in the men’s triple jump. Freshman Ella Battel ran for a personal best of 4:58.57 in the women’s 1,500-meters and again took the top spot in the women’s 800-meters, stopping the clock at 2:22.32.
Multiple events finished with App State athletes in the top two spots. In the men’s shot put, freshman Christopher Stewart finished first at 16.64m, a personal best for Stewart, and freshman Dennis Mowatt Jr. second at 14.64m. In the women’s shot put, freshmen Brittany Ellis and Emily Edwards claimed the top two spots with Ellis at 12.23m and Edwards at 11.39m.
Junior Maddie Quinn and senior Morgan Kornke placed first at 11:59.98, Quinn’s personal best, and second at 13:04.39, respectively, in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase.
App State will head to Harrisonburg, Virginia, to compete in the Sun Belt outdoor championships from May 8-10.