CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Natasha Akbarizadeh (Maple Ridge, British Columbia) set a new personal record in the hammer throw, and both Ashleigh Cleveland (Raleigh, N.C.) and Merideth Byl (Tucson, Ariz.) shattered their previous personal records in the long jump as six Runnin' Bulldogs set new individual benchmarks to pace Gardner-Webb at the Charlotte 49er Classic on Friday evening.
Akbarizadeh bested her PR by nearly a meter, finishing third in the hammer throw with a high mark of 56.39 meters while Sarah Mitchell (Roswell, Ga.) placed 11th with a toss of 44.82 meters. Mitchell also finished fourth in the discus throw with a mark of 40.33 meters. Cleveland and Byl each set new PRs in the long jump with marks of 5.35 and 5.15 meters, while finishing ninth and 16th, respectively. Byl added a PR of 16.99 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.
Kailey Robinson (Connelly Springs, N.C.) placed fifth in the unseeded pole vault with a mark of 3.20 meters, as Megan Melton (Riverside, Calif.) finished 12th in the seeded competition with a vault of 3.20 meters.
Titus Hamilton (Blair, Neb.) set a new personal record with a toss of 40.15 meters in the javelin – more than four meters better than his previous mark. Queton Jones (Moore, S.C.) and Benjamin Sayles (Shelby, N.C.) each established a PR in the long jump, placing sixth and 17th, respectively with marks of 7.03 meters and 6.49 meters.
Ivy Harris (Bailey, N.C.) set a new PR in the 400-meter dash, crossing the line in 1:00.09, as freshman Anna Harris (East Bend, N.C.) posted a personal-best time of 1:05.17 in her collegiate outdoor debut. Amy Turlington (Hendersonville, N.C.) enjoyed a solid outdoor debut in the 800-meter run with a mark of 2:29.39, as fellow rookies Rachel White (King, N.C.) and Lauren Kilpatrick (Jacksonville, Fla.) recorded times of 5:30.41 and 5:48.53, respectively, in the 1,500-meter run.
Sydney Davis (Granite Falls, N.C.) set a new PR in the 5,000-meter run with a mark of 20:16.18. Caleb Silvey (Greenville, S.C.) shattered his previous best in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.54 seconds, as Darius Gray (Laurens, S.C.) added a time of 52.42 seconds in his collegiate outdoor debut. Keaton Poole (Spindale, N.C.) crossed the line in 2:04.23 in his outdoor debut in the 800-meter run.
Matthew Cook (Connelly Springs, N.C.) obliterated his PR in the 1,500-meter run, crossing the line in 4:35.16 - nearly 25 seconds faster than his previous top mark. Ezekiel Martin (Goldsboro, N.C.) posted a time of 4:35.86 in his collegiate outdoor debut in the event.
Gardner-Webb will close out the weekend with the final day of competition at the Charlotte 49er Classic on Saturday.
