CHARLOTTE – Gardner-Webb combined for seven top-10 finishes in field events, including five on the women's side, in the first outdoor competition of the season at the Charlotte 49er Invitational.
Gardner-Webb competed on Friday and Saturday on the track and in the field, getting a school-record debut from transfer Krista Chauvin in the women's hammer. Chauvin's Friday effort of 54.87 meters was also good enough for first place and was part of a very impressive grouping of Runnin' Bulldogs in the event.
Freshman Natasha Akbarizadeh took third with a distance of 52.60 meters, which was the third-best effort in Gardner-Webb program history. Veteran Sarah Mitchell finished ninth (46.71 meters). Mitchell also finished sixth in the discus, tossing the disc 39.65 meters. Mitchell's effort in the hammer throw was a new personal best.
Diamond Reese joined her throwing corps with a top-10 finish in the discus, going 35.59 meters to finish 10th. The freshman also had a solid showing in the shot put with an 11th-place mark of 11.98 meters.
The throws weren't the only field events to shine during the event. Elise Moffatt built on a strong indoor season by taking seventh in the pole vault, clearing the bar in 3.40 meters. Kailey Robinson also cleared 3.40 meters to finish 11th.
Kayin Mujahid took third in the women's high jump, clearing a height of 1.58 meters. Meredith Byl finished 13th in the javelin with a personal-best throw of 33.87 meters. Ashleigh Cleveland (1.53m, 16th) and Kristen Hurley (1.48m, 19th) also had top-20 finishes in the high jump.
On the track, Sarah Perkins ran a personal-best time of 58.52 in the women's 400m dash prelims, finishing with the eighth-best time to qualify for the finals on Saturday, but was not able to start that race. She also helped the women's 4x400m relay team to a sixth-place finish.
Jordan Davis finished 17th in the women's 200m dash preliminaries (25.36), Clarie Cates finished 20th in the women's 5,000m run (18:29.76), Ashleigh Cleveland took 19th in the women's long jump (5.04m), Michaela Williams finished 15th in the 3,000m run (11:52.35) and Sydney Davis took 18th in that same 3,000m race (11:59.10).
On the men's side, Nathan Padfield finished second overall in the men's hammer with a distance of 57.73 meters – the top mark among collegiate competitors in the event.
Freshman Marquel Woodard raced to a sixth-place finish in the men's 800m run, crossing the tape in 1:54.34. Woodard's time was third-best among collegiate runners and one of the top times in Gardner-Webb history. Teammate Joshua Parks finished 15th in a time of 1:56.96, which was 12th-best among collegians.
Jordan Smith, a two-time All-Big South indoor performer this season, finished sixth in the shot put with a toss of 15.17 meters – his personal-best outdoors. Clay Hamilton finished 16th in the shot with a 13.40-meter effort.
Carson Sears paced the GWU discus group with a distance of 42.98 meters (13th), followed by Smith's 41.35-meter toss – which was good for 18th.
Gardner-Webb will next compete on March 26-28 at the Winthrop Invitational in Rock Hill, S.C.
