Track and Field notches first place finishes at pre-conference meet

Cory Spiers

Men’s and women’s track both had solid outings at the pre-conference meet in Boone on Saturday.

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Freshman sprinter Krystal Clarke pushes ahead of Gardner-Webb runners to win her 55-meter dash. Photo by Paul Heckert | The Appalachian

The women’s squad finished first in points with 166, beating out the closest competitor, Gardner Webb, by 86 points.

Makayla Roten, who set a personal best for high jump earlier this season, set a new personal best of 5 feet 9.25 inches in the same event.

The men’s team also enjoyed success, finishing first with 126.5 points, which was 23 points more than second-place Carson-Newman.

Kyle McFoy also set a new personal best in the mile run with a time of 4:23.90. Peter Ovendorf also set a personal best in the 800-meter run with a 2:01.10 mark.

The Mountaineers will next compete at the SoCon Indoor Championships in Winston-Salem on Saturday and Sunday. The start time for that event is still to be determined.

That event is the last one before the NCAA Division I National Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., on March 14 and 15.

Story: Cory Spiers, Sports Editor

Photo: Paul Heckert, Photo Editor