BOONE, N.C. — Natasha Akbarizadeh (Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada) set a new program-record with a personal-best throw of 59.65 meters in the hammer, as Gardner-Webb combined for 17 personal records and three event wins at Appalachian State's Mountaineer Open on Saturday.
Akbarizadeh turned in the top performance of the day in the hammer throw, finishing second in the event behind volunteer assistant coach Krista Chauvin with a school-record toss of 59.65 meters, surpassing the mark Chauvin set last season. Sarah Mitchell (Roswell, Ga.) finished eighth in the event with a PR of 44.90 meters, before posting her second personal-record of the day with a fourth-place toss of 42.65 meters in the discus throw.
Marcus Abraham (Charlotte, N.C.) placed fourth in the shot put with a mark of 15.70 meters, and added a PR of 46.82 meters en route to a third-place performance in the discus throw. AJ White (Hurricane, W.Va.) won the discus with a personal-best of 49.89 - less than one meter shy of the program record, while also placing fifth in the hammer with a mark of 46.12 meters.
Moriah Mason (Decatur, Ga.) finished eighth in the shot put with a mark of 11.87 meters, while Clay Hamilton (Blair, Neb.) placed eighth in the men's event with a toss of 14.05 meters.
Quenton Jones (Moore, S.C.) paced the Runnin' Bulldogs in the long jump with a fourth-place mark of 6.73 meters, as Paul Schumacher posted a PR of 6.36 meters in an eighth-place performance. Jalin Lawson (Fort Gaines, Ga.) and Benjamin Sayles (Shelby, N.C.) posted personal records of 13.98 and 12.91 meters, respectively, in the triple jump.
Kayin Mujahid (Philadelphia, Pa.) placed fourth in the high jump with a mark of 1.68 meters, while Megan Melton (Riverside, Calif.) and Kailey Robinson (Connelly Springs, N.C.) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the pole vault with marks of 3.40 and 3.30 meters. Karin Sastre (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) set a new PR with a mark of 3.15 meters in the event.
The women's 4x100-meter relay team of Mujahid, Cleveland, Anna Harris (East Bend, N.C.) and Ivy Harris (Bailey, N.C.) placed fourth in the event with a time of 49.69 seconds, while the men's quartet of Jones, Lawson, Caleb Silvey (Greenville, S.C.) and Joseph Martin (Broadway, Va.) finished third in the men's 4x100-meter relay with a time of 43.31 seconds.
Anna Harris, Ivy Harris, Cleveland and Amanda Hall (Moscow, Pa.) won the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 4:01.01, while the quartet of Joseph Martin, Silvey, Marcquel Woodard (Gainesville, Ga.) and Darien Evans-Hensley (Lexington, N.C.) replicated the feat with a mark of 3:23.90 in the men's event.
Christopher Lile (Waynesville, N.C.) paced the Runnin' Bulldogs in the men's 1,500-meter run, finishing in 12th place with a time of 4:09.91, as Cleveland placed fifth in the 100-meter hurdles with a mark of 15.51 seconds. Silvey set a new PR of 50.10 seconds en route to a ninth-place finish in the 400-meter dash, as Josh Parks (Forest City, N.C.) posted a personal-best of 51.26 seconds in the event.
Lauren Kilpatrick (Jacksonville, Fla.) established a new personal-best of 2:34.98 in the women's 800-meter run, as Keaton Poole (Spindale, N.C.), Ezekiel Martin (Goldsboro, N.C.) and Matthew Cook (Connolly Springs, N.C.) each posted PR's of 2:00.86, 2:08.42 and 2:10.58, respectively, in the men's event. Woodard paced the Runnin' Bulldogs in the men's 800-meter run, finishing ninth with a time of 1:59.16. Bobby Clark posted PR's of 11.73 and 24.17 seconds, respectively, in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
Gardner-Webb will return to action on Tuesday, May 10 in Lynchburg, Virginia on the first day of the three-day Big South Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of Liberty University.
