BOONE, N.C. – Krista Chauvin won the women's hammer throw Saturday at the 2015 Appalachian State Outdoor Open, getting back on track in her pursuit of a Big South Conference title and NCAA Regional qualification.
Chauvin (Seekonk, Mass.) narrowly missed breaking her own school record, throwing the hammer 58.36 meters (191'6") on Saturday. It was the third time she had gone at least 58 meters this spring, with her best coming at High Point on April 3 (58.50m).
Chauvin beat the field by nearly six meters.
Teammate Natasha Akbarizadeh finished third with a throw of 52.54 meters (172'04"), which was her third-best distance of the season.
Gardner-Webb had six competitors in the women's shot put, and Sarah Mitchell led that group with a fourth-place finish and a distance of 12.80 meters (42'0"). Freshman Diamond Reese was just off that mark, finishing fifth with a distance of 12.45 meters (40'10").
Merideth Byl (6th, 11.57 meters), Moriah Mason (7th, 10.88 meters), Kristen Hurley (8th, 10.85 meters) and Amanda Hall (10th, 9.34 meters) also finished in the top-10. Mason set a new PR in the shot put, as did multi-event standout Byl.
The distance by Byl shattered her previous personal record by nearly one meter (10.78 meters). Byl also tied her own personal record in the high jump, finishing eighth with a height of 1.43 meters. She took fourth in the javelin as (33.42 meters).
Byl also competed well on the track for Gardner-Webb Saturday, taking sixth in the 200 meter dash (26.41) to pace a group of four GWU runners in the top-10. Hurley (7th, 26.79), Cleveland (9th, 27.41) and Hall (10th, 29.16) rounded out that quartet. Kayin Mujahid (5th, 1.58 meters), Ashleigh Cleveland (6th, 1.53 meters), Hurley (7th, 1.48 meters), and Hall (9th, 1.28 meters) each posted top-10 efforts in the high jump.
Mitchell took fourth in the women's discus, edging Reese by less than two meters with her 42.08-meter effort. Mitchell established a new PR in the discus, beating her previous best of 41.94 meters.
Reese went 40.59 meters to take fifth and beat her previous PR as well (37.07 meters).
Elise Moffatt finished fourth in the women's pole vault, with her best height coming at 3.51 meters (11'6.25"). Megan Melton finished sixth and Kailey Robinson finished 10th.
Hurley led Gardner-Webb in the 100 meter hurdles' prelims, finishing fourth with her time of 15.32. She was followed by Cleveland (5th), Byl (6th) and Hall (7th).
Hurley took fourth in the finals as well (15.45), with Hall capturing fifth. Hurley's time in the prelims was her best of the season and her finals time was her second-best this year.
Ivy Harris finished second in the women's 400 meter hurdles, missing first place by just two-tenths of a second (1:06.37) – a new PR for the freshman in that event.
Jenna Ford took top honors in the women's 3,000m Steeplechase, crossing the tape in 12:09.49 to cap a successful first attempt at the event. Gabby Cortese finished ninth in the women's 1,500 meter run (4:59.84), a new personal record for the freshman standout.
MEN'S TEAM
Multi standout Ben Bell finished fourth in the men's long jump (20'9.75"), third in the javelin (43.79 meters) and fifth in the 110 meter hurdles.
Benjamin Sayles followed in sixth with a distance of 20'02.50" in the men's long jump, Matthew Cook finished fifth in the javelin and Ralph Jolly was sixth in the 100m hurdles.
Jordan Smith finished third in the men's shot put with a toss of 16.01 meters (52'06"), finishing just off the pace of Appalachian State's Nathan Milch and Ellsworth Parham – as each of that group topped 16 meters. Clay Hamilton took eighth in the shot put, hurling his best effort 14.17 meters (46'6").
Smith was Gardner-Webb's top performer as well in the discus, taking seventh with a throw of 42.49 meters (139'05"). Nathan Padfield (10th, 38.85 meters) also had a top-10 effort in the discus.
Padfield finished second in the hammer, reaching the 57.44-meter mark (188'05") to sit less than two meters out of first place. It was the third-best effort of the spring by Padfield, who will challenge for top honors at the upcoming Big South Conference meet in the event. As usual, Smith wasn't far behind his senior teammate, finishing seventh with a toss of 45.65 meters (149'09").
Seaver Wait took third in the high jump competition, clearing a height of 6'02" (1.88m). Wait's personal record of 1.90 meters was within reach.
On the track, Marquel Woodard paced the Gardner-Webb contingent in the men's 800 meter run, finishing eighth in a personal-record time of 1:53.93 – beating his previous mark of 1:54.15 which he set at Georgia Tech on April 17.
Crawford teamed up with Darien Evans-Hensley, Caleb Silvey and Bell to finish third in the men's 4x400m relay (3:25.93). The GWU "B" team, which was comprised of Joshua Parks, Aaron Cronk, Woodard and Cook, finished fifth (3:36.41).
The squads' next competition is a big one, as they travel to High Point, N.C., for the 2015 Big South Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships on May 14-16 at Dick Vert Stadium.
