LYNCHBURG, Va. — Sarah Mitchell (Roswell, Ga.) placed third in the women's discus throw with a new personal record and Amanda Harris (Moscow, Pa.) set a pair of PR's in the heptathlon to pace Gardner-Webb on the first day of the Big South Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships Tuesday.
Mitchell opened the weekend for Gardner-Webb in impressive fashion in the women's discus throw, hitting a new personal-record of 43.90 meters on her last throw to earn a spot on the Big South All-Conference Third Team for the second time in her career. Prior to her final throw, Mitchell was sitting in fifth with a prelim mark of 41.38 meters.
Ivy Harris (Bailey, N.C.) ran a personal-best time of 1:02.99 in the 400-meter hurdle prelims, claiming third overall and qualifying for Thursday's finals. Hall posted a pair of PR's on the first day of the heptathlon competition, setting new top marks of 1.31 meters in the high jump and 17.03 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles. Ashleigh Cleveland (Raleigh, N.C.) ranks eighth in the competition standings with 2,639 points after setting a new PR of 15.36 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.
Joseph Martin (Broadway, Va.) missed his personal-best by one-thousandth of a second in the 200-meter prelims, finishing 17th with a time of 22.82 seconds. A.J. White (Hurricane, W.Va.) and Jordan Smith (Chesterfield, Va.) placed sixth and 10th, respectively in the hammer throw with marks of 50.79 and 44.26 meters.
Merideth Byl (Tucson, Ariz.) finished ninth in the javelin throw with a mark of 32.55 meters, as Jenna Ford (Wasilla, Alaska) and Lauren Kilpatrick (Jacksonville, Fla.) posted times of 5:18.36 and 5:38.81, respectively, in the 1,500-meter run.
The Runnin' Bulldogs are seventh in the men's standings with six points and eighth the women's standings with three points after the first day of the championships.
Competition is slated to continue at 9:00 am on Saturday with the men's discus. The day's action will conclude with the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase, which is set to start at 5:00 pm.
