Gardner-Webb Finishes Weekend Strong At Appalachian Open
December 05, 2015 | Track & Field
BOONE, N.C. --- Merideth Byl (Tuscon, Ariz.) set a pair of personal records in the high jump and the 55-meter hurdles, and Josh Wembolua (Matthews, N.C.) placed second in the 55-meter hurdles to pace the Gardner-Webb track and field team to a strong finish to the weekend at the Appalachian State Open on Saturday.
The men's team placed third in the team rankings with 67.5 points in 15 scored events, as the women's squad finished fourth with 49 points.
Marcus Abraham (Charlotte, N.C.) and Jordan Smith (Chesterfield, Va.) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the men's shot put, posting marks of 16.29 and 15.90 meters. Seaver Wait (Candler, N.C.) tied for fifth in the high jump with a mark of 1.93 meters, as Jalin Lawson (Fort Gaines, Ga.) and Benjamin Sayles (Shelby, N.C.) placed third and eighth, respectively, in the long jump with marks of 6.97 and 6.52 meters. Sayles' mark was good for a personal record, while Lawson's rates as the third-highest in school history.
Wembolua placed second in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 7.80 seconds. Keaton Poole (Spindale, N.C.) and Marcquel Woodard (Gainesville, Ga.) finished third and fourth in the one-mile run with marks of 4:42.45 and 4:49.51, respectively, as Matthew Cook (Connelly Springs, N.C.) beat his personal record in the event by more than 11 seconds with a mark of 5:05.69.
William Perkins (Charlotte, N.C.) was the Runnin' Bulldogs top finisher in the 200-meter dash with a mark of 22.82 seconds, while Darien Evans-Hensley (Lexington, N.C.) and Caleb Silvey (Greenville, S.C.) both posted personal records in the event with times of 23.64 and 24.01 seconds, respectively.
Christopher Lile (Waynesville, N.C.), Joshua Valdez (Haw River, N.C.) and Josh Parks (Forest City, N.C.) each finished in the top five in the 3,000-meter run with marks of 9:28.66, 9:36.01 and 9:43.88, respectively.
The quartet of Evans-Hensley, Wembolua, Perkins and Joseph Martin (Broadway, Va.) placed third in the 4x300-meter relay with a time of 2:25.50. Silvey, Perkins, Parks and Woodard finished fifth in the 4x400-meter relay with a mark of 3:44:37.
Sarah Mitchell (Roswell, Ga.) led the way for Gardner-Webb in the women's shot put, placing third with a mark of 13.56 meters as Moriah Mason (Decatur, Ga.) beat her personal record by more than two meters with a toss of 12.34 meters. Byl posted a personal-best of 1.49 meters in the high jump.
Elise Moffatt (Kennesaw, Ga.), Megan Melton (Riverside, Calif.) and Kailey Robinson (Connelly Springs, N.C.) each placed in the top five in the pole vault, as Moffatt and Melton cleared 3.37 meters and Robinson soared over 3.22 meters. Freshman Karin Sastre (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) cleared 3.07 meters.
Ashleigh Cleveland (Raleigh, N.C.) and Byl each posted a personal record in the 55-meter hurdles, posting marks of 9.16 and 9.47 seconds, respectively.
Jenna Ford (Wasilla, Alaska) paced the Runnin' Bulldogs in the one-mile run in second with a time of 5:50.38, as freshmen Amy Turlington (Hendersonville, N.C.) and Lauren Kilpatrick (Jacksonville, Fla.) posted marks of 6:20.34 and 6:20.97, respectively. Ivy Harris (Bailey, N.C.) set a new personal record of 27.30 seconds in the 200-meter dash.
Sydney Davis (Granite Falls, N.C.) and Rachel White (King, N.C.) placed seventh and eighth in the 3,000-meter run with marks of 12:01.03 and 12:19.18, respectively. Harris, Byl, Cleveland and Kayin Mujahid (Philadelphia, Pa.) placed fourth in the 4x300-meter relay with a mark of 2:54.25.
Gardner-Webb resumes the indoor season on January 16, 2016 at the UNC Art and Linda Mallet Open in Chapel Hill, N.C.
