Women’s track and field splits for weekend meets

Senior+Jada+Branch+competes+in+the+Doc+Hale+Virginia+Tech+meet+Feb.+4%2C+2023.+

Courtesy of Andy McLean, App State Athletics

Senior Jada Branch competes in the Doc Hale Virginia Tech meet Feb. 4, 2023.

Ben Brady, Reporter

App State women’s track and field totaled 12 finishes within the top nine overall as it split into two event groups for the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Meet and the Camel City Invite this weekend. The Mountaineers recorded six wins at each event in Blacksburg, Virginia, and Winston-Salem.

Friday’s action opened with five top 10 finishes at the Doc Hale VT Meet. Senior Mariah Atwater recorded a personal best time in the women’s 400 meters and finished fifth overall. Atwater ranks third in program history in the women’s 400 meters and contributed to a school record in the women’s 4×400 meter relay at the VMI Winter Classic. 

In the women’s long jump, junior Siby Yao and senior Taylor Smith finished sixth and eighth, respectively. Freshman Addison Ollendick-Smith rounded out the night with an eighth place finish in the women’s 800 meters.

On Saturday, senior Jada Branch, who ranks sixth all-time in the women’s long jump, finished second overall in the event. Senior Djamila Petersen closed out the event with a ninth place finish in the women’s triple jump. 

The Mountaineers opened the Camel City invite Friday with five top 10 finishes. In the women’s pole vault, senior Celia Agee and freshman Ava Studney finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Freshman Daye Talley recorded a personal best time and fifth place finish in the women’s 200 meters, while sophomore Regan Hodge also recorded a personal best in the women’s 600 meters. Sophomore Graysen Arnold closed the night with an eighth place finish in the women’s weight throw. 

On Saturday, junior Bianca Copeman rounded out the Mountaineers’ top 10 finishes with a personal best time in the women’s 1,000 meters, recording eighth place. 

The team will reform and return to action at the Marshall Invitational in Huntington, West Virginia, Feb.10.